Spread The Light
by redheadclover
Summary: The Resistance is on its last legs, the First Order is becoming far too danergous, and Neyli's pull to her twin brother is stronger than ever. But with Rey, Finn and her fiance Poe at her side, Neyli's ready to fight for the Resistance and save her brother along the way. But at what cost will it bring her? (Last story of the Find the Light Trilogy) (POE X OC)
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** This is the third installment of my series with _Find the Ligh_t and _Keep The Light. _

**SPOILER ALERT:**

If you haven't seen Rise of Skywalker yet, go see it before you read this! This will be the last story I will write for the Star Wars Franchise and I will try my best to deliver!

* * *

_It was dark, very dark in my dream, Flashes of light were surrounding me and enchanting my senses as I was standing somewhere dark and far away. I was cold, it seemed like a cold place, cold and away from where I thought I was sleeping._

_There was running, having me turn and look over to my right and seeing someone move as fast as they could over to a bigger structure that seemed ark and menacing. I looked, piercing my eyes together hard to make out who it was, the ground beneath me uneven and shaking in each step this person was taking. But my heart dropped: a back cloak, black hair falling away from his face._

_I knew his face._

_I reached out, in hopes that maybe it would stop him or make him look over in my direction. I had no idea what he was doing, or why he was here in this place that made me feel evil seeping through the ground, but he was still someone close to me. Other would disagree, others would have called me crazy or almost insane as I said one name on my lips in a scream:_

_"BEN!"_

* * *

Something tapped my leg, over and over.

"I'm..I'm up I'm up…' I trailed off, rubbing my eyes with the tips of my fingers and sighing in defeat as I was looking up at the ceiling of my small quarters. It was smaller now, at least it felt like it to me, since the one person I was missing the most wasn't there.

Poe.

We were waiting to get married, it was the best thing we could do at the moment. The First Order was still at our heels, we were on another remote planet to be in hiding before we could get anything else we needed to finish this war. Rey, a new ally that we met and was training to be a Jedi, was with us on the planet and was finishing her training with both my self and my mother, General Leia. Since the passing of my Uncle Luke, Rey's original Master, she wanted to finish her training to finish off the First Order. The one thing that I knew was holding her back was Kylo Ren.

Or my brother: Ben Solo

"I know I know! Geeze, Q2." I grumbled as I sat up in my bed and moved my hair from my eyesight. It was dark in my room, only a few brims of light coming into the room from the top sliver of a window that I had in my room. I looked down, seeing my faithful dried whirling around at me to get my attention as he beeped some more.

"Who's on the line for me?" I asked now, hearing him beep a few more as I chuckled and walked over to my desk in the corner, seeing the screen there and tapping a few things there on the screen before an image came up, having me feel relieved to see a familiar face and he grinned back at me.

"Heya, Neyli,"

"Hey, Poe. You made it to the location?" I said to him. He was on the Millennium Falcon, in the cockpit specifically with Chewbacca in the second chair. I knew they made it to the location where they needed to go: they were there with Finn, R2D2, and another Resistance fighter to get retrieve information that we could use in the Resistance. I was just glad to be able to see Poe, which was pathetic since I was never this way with him before. But I guess it was because of how close we ere to either a full victory or a full failure, that made me place moments and relationships closer to my heart. Including, maybe to a point, my brother.

"Yeah, we made it safe and sound," Poe chuckled and motioned to my head with his fingers, "I woke you up didn't I?"

"Not at all," I said half as a joke and a slow gin as he crinkled his eyes with a smile.

"I know I did, sorry. I forgot it was still early for you guys back at home," He admitted, "I wanted to call you to see how things were going."

"Fine," I replied as I shoved my hair in a ponytail and I waved to Chewbacca in the background, seeing him growl a bit at me, "Heya, Chewie. You won another game against them?"

"I guess he did," Poe grumbled as Chewbacca spoke back to him, in which Poe threw up his hands almost in defeat now.

"Alright, you did win….every single time," Poe said to him, hearing Chewbacca grumble in a light tone as Poe was focusing back on me and I could tell the mood there was high, almost on the edge, "So…how'd you sleep?"

"Just as always," I replied smoothly back to him, seeing him read my eyes on the screen and I tapped my fingers against the counter surface. He knew only so much, I didn't tell him everything about what I was dreaming, and who I was seeing. The last thing that I wanted dot do was have Poe beyond worried about me. He didn't need that on his shoulders, we were already in a good place since Uncle Luke passed away.

"Damn," Poe muttered a bit now as he could see it evident on my face, "I thought it was going to be better for you since we came to our new planet,"

"Everyone did," I replied to him, "But all I can do now is keep our troops going and make sure we're all on the same page,"

"You can't do that if you can't get a decent night sleep," Poe countered back with me, Chewbacca speaking in his own opinion as I gave him a big look,

"Thank you for your input, Chewie," I advised him, seeing him grumble now as I looked back and focused on Poe, "Sweetheart, I can handle these dreams just as much as you can handle being our leader with the Resistance."

"You're a leader too, Neyli, don't forget that," Poe reassured me as I grinned widely, "You're the one the people need the most to lead us out of the shadows of the First Order," I had to just soak that part: we all had a part to play in with the war.

"Why do I love you so much?" I asked him, almost too sweet for my liking now as I could see a flash of color there on his face when I said that. It felt like it was just the both of us, back when e were only pilots in the Resistance and we had no cares or trouble within our reach. We were young, we were just flying amongst the stars and not having a worry or care in the world. I wished we were back there, I wished for a lot of things with Poe. But that was then, and this is now.

"I ask myself the same question all the time, Neyli Organa Solo," he replied smoothly, smooth like water as I rolled my eyes. Chewbacca grumbled behind him in the background as I giggled.

"Yeah, I know I still have it," Poe replied, then I heard something going off far in the distance. Both Poe and Chewbacca look over in alarm, having me sit up a bit now.

"Sweetheart we have to go," Poe said to me, almost in worry, "I think we have company," I saw Chewbacca moving around and getting things ready. Maybe they were already in a hot spot now as I nodded my head and gave him a reassuring smile

"Get back here in one piece, along with the information," I reminded him, "Love you,"

"Love you too," He replied, the screen going off now as I was back within the silence of my room. I sighed, leaning back a bit in my chair. Over to my right, I saw the necklace with the ring at the end, the same one Poe gave me a year before at the Battle of Crait. It's been one year, It's felt sooner than later to me, sooner and the wounds of losing Uncle Luke were still not healed completely. I had to keep going, I had to keep leading the fighters who were willing to be in this fight until the very end.

Q2 beeped a few times at me as I grabbed the necklace and placed it around my neck, feeling a bit better now that I had his necklace to keep me close and back to reality.

"I know he'll be fine, Q2," I said to him, "Where's BB-8 anyways?"

* * *

"Be with me…be with me,"

She was concentrating hard, I could feel it within her and myself as I was watching from afar and I too was levitating. It was the best thing for me to do since I felt it was only fair for me to train with her. She had more of a way to go in comparison to myself, but I was rusty. It's been a while since I practiced and meditated with the ways of The Force.

She was floating about 10 feet up in the air, sitting with her legs crossed and eyes closed, focusing on trying to connect. I knew maybe she was trying to connect with Uncle Luke, along with the Jedi from the past, something that was harder and harder to do if one wasn't in the right mindset. Rocks were floating around her and rotating in a smooth formation. BB-8 was rolling around beneath us on the floor, watching with worry and concern, whereas my mother, the general herself, was watching too from her spot in the clearing. I was floating away from her, almost at the same level too to watch her concentration and see if it was in the right control.

It was like I was a padawan all over again.

"They're not with me," Rey sighed, sightly in annoyance as the rocks rating and levitating around her body gracefully lowered to the ground and she landed back on her feet. I just landed on my own feet as well, seeing the look on her face and how she was panting something up within her, something coiled real deep inside that was bursting at the seams.

"You're stressed," I voiced, folding my hands in front of me as I was watching her carefully, "Your mind is not where it needs to be."

"It's been harder as of late," Rey admitted to me, having me seeing her give me uneasy eyes.

"You need to be calm when you meditate," I reminded, "Coiled up stress makes it heavier on your concentration. Let all of your worries go when you do this: your mind needs to be at peace," I explained, seeing it all over her face now as she was almost pacing back and forth now. I then shifted in front of Rey, pointing to her hesitantly, "Your mind is somewhere else, isn't it?"

"How can you tell?" She asked, watching me with worry.

"Not only is it all over your face, but I can feel it and hear it too," I explained to her.

"Right," She replied, "Right, sorry."

"It's okay," I reassured, "I'm trained too, but I'm like you: I'm learning as I go."

"You know more than me," Rey countered back with me. I gave her a slight grin.

"I do, but I haven't been practicing as much as I am now with you. I might be trained, but I'm rusty." I reminded Rey, "But The Force is strong in you, the both of us." She nodded, not saying anything now as she then walked away from me and over to my mother. She was watching the both of us with a kind look on her face, holding my Uncle's lightsaber within her grasps.

"Rey, be patient," My mother reminded her as Rey walked over in a huff and BB-8 was rolling obediently behind her.

"I'm starting to think it's not possible: to hear the Jedi who came before."

"Nothing's Impossible." My mom explained, having me see a small smile on Rey now.

"Nothing's Impossible." Rey echoed her, "I'm gonna run the training course," With that, my mother handed the lightsaber over to her and Rey was off, leaving both myself and my mother behind in the quietness of the jungle there in our new home. I watched as Rey went off to disappear like a blur into the thick leaves and lush trees, having me sigh and place my hands on my hips.

"Her connection is stronger now," I explained, seeing my mother nodded in agreement but silence, "It's rattled though."

"She hasn't been this constant since we lost your Uncle." My mother added as we were both walking back over to our main base camp.

"I can sense plenty of struggle in her…struggle to find…" I trailed off, not wanting to pinpoint it myself now as my mother gave me that kind of look. I knew she wanted to talk about it some more, maybe for my own sake, but I shook it off as we were walking on, "Nothing."

"Neyli…" My mother started.

"No, it's not like that," I argued.

"Then what is it?" My mother asked me, not in a rushed manner but gentler. It was such a different than how she would talk to me in the past. I knew she changed when we lost my father, and once again when my Uncle Luke passed on, her heart was shifting and molding around the holes there and not she was afraid of losing any more people close to her.

"I can feel him, mom," I explained, the both of us stopping now as I was watching her with careful eyes, "Since we were children before I thought he died….and before he went to the Dark Side….there's a flicker of light in him that I know and I felt so many times. I know it's gonna sound crazy…but mom…he's still there. Ben's still there."

"You think so?" She asked, carefully and in a genuine manner. I bit my lower lip.

"I don't know," I admitted, "It's been a long time since I practiced the ways of Jedi, let alone feel that lightness from him that I only know comes from him. But I know it most of all because he's—"

"Your twin." My mother explained, having me pause and see her give me a small smile. Taking my hand in hers we both walked some more together shoulder to shoulder, "I felt the same way about your Uncle Luke. We both had a connection together because we were siblings….twins. Not to mention we were Force Sensitive, so it's the same to you."

"I can feel that he's…struggling," I explained as we were nearing the edge of the base and I could see all the hustle and bustle of the Resistance going on, "I want to help him and protect him…at least protect Ben."

"Neyli," I heard my mother say to me, having me look back at her as she squeezed my hand now within her gentle hand, "I know how your heart is molded: light beyond repair. But I'm asking you…before we know anything else and decide anything…please be careful."

"Mom—"

"I lost your brother, my son, to the Dark Side, and no matter how much Ben there is still within him…I can't take the chance on loosing you too." She admitted, sounding a bit graved about it now as I could feel how she was honest about it. I knew where she was coming from, thinking that I was the only family she had left now and it was making me beyond scared for her. I nodded slowly, seeing her give me a small grin now as I saw someone run over to me with a pip in his step. One of my closest friends: Jenco

"Neyli," He said to me, then seeing that I was talking to my mother, "Sorry for interrupting General, but I need to talk to Commander Solo for one second,"

"Go on, I need to talk to Rey anyways," My mother replied to me, having me grin at her and then release her hand to walk over with Jenco.

"Did I interrupt your Jedi session with Rey?" He asked me in hesitance as we were walking through the main walkway and over to his X-Wing that was parked next to my own.

"No, Rey's having a rough time and I needed a break anywho," I answered as we made it to his X-Wing. He chuckled as he leaned against it with his arms crossed in front of him, "What's going on?"

"The Falcon's not responding," He said with his lower tone since other pilots were walking by. I kept my eyes low, crossing my own arms in front of me now as we were once again alone, "When was the last time you contacted Poe."

"This morning. He contacted me actually and they made it to the location," I answered, "It's not like Finn to not let us know about their travels."

"What about Poe?" He asked me, having me almost roll my eyes.

"Of all the years I've known him: he wouldn't call back," I murmured, seeing a small grin on his face, "I know he does it just to keep me on the edge."

"And you know he does pull through, every time," Jenco said in agreement. I eyed him with a raised eyebrow.

"I knew you always liked him," I commented, hearing him snort a bit now as he reached about him on the ladder next to him, grabbing the tolls kit that was there.

"I always liked him, but I was skeptical when you two got together," He explained, "Besides, I remember telling him after you two became an item if he ever broke your heart, I could break apart in his X-wing and make it look like an accident," I grinned at him from ear to ear, seeing him casual he was about it as he was twirling one his tools in his hands and leaned his head back against his X-Wing. I knew Jencon and I was always close, thick as thieves since we started in the Resistance together as rookies. He was behind me with all the struggles, and I was behind him. If there was one rock in my life, it had to be Jencon.

"I'm flattered," I joked, "And knowing Poe, he probably wouldn't have found the broken part that you did,"

"You calling your fiancé a dull tool in the shed is amusing," He commented back, then pointing to his X-Wing behind him with the tool in his hand, "Wanna help me tune up the cockpit modules?" I nodded my head, seeing him grin and turn around to go up on the ladder before we saw another pilot running over to us now.

"Commander! The Falcon's back!"


	2. Chapter 2

I was running at full speed now, Jencon right behind me and on my tails and Q2 not leaving my sight as we were approaching my late father's ship. I thought of the worst, literally the worst since anything could happen nowadays in the war. But of course, as soon as I turned the corner and I was seeing the view there, I sighed in almost a bit of irritation now since what I was seeing was making me roll my eyes.

Of course, this ship was in flames.

Not all of it, only patches here and there as it landed completely on the jungle floor and the hatch underneath opened. I skidded to a halt now, my hands on my hips as Jencon was watching his step and standing next to me as well.

"Damn…" he said in a daze now as Chewbacca stalked out of the ship with an irrupting look on his face. I almost growled now as I briskly walked over to where he was.

"Get some maintenance on this ship and get those fires out, now!" I commanded the maintenance workers behind me while I was walking over to my late father's friend. If there was going to be one person

"Chewie!" I called out, seeing him walk over to me and gesturing to the ship, growling in impatience and irritation, "Okay..okay! I get it, he made a dumb move."

He murmured some more, in which I had no choice but to smile in how he was being crabby about it.

"A few dumb moves….wait hold on…why is the Falcon on fire anyway?" I asked him, then hearing Poe walk down the ramp with heaviness in his boots.

"It's on fire! The whole thing's in fire…all of it... It's on fire." Poe said almost nonchalantly and stressful as he was walking off the ramp over to where Jencon and I were waiting for him. I locked eyes on him now, seeing him look at me and take in a steady breath before he shoved his hands in his pockets. It was like he knew he was caught, and he was waiting for me to yell at him. As much as I was glad to see Poe back in once piece again, I was still on edge for what I was seeing in front of me. Poe could see it, and I could feel that he was trying to tiptoe around this. Bless his heart.

"Poe…" I trailed off, Jencon walking over slowly to stand behind me now as I was looking all over the ship.

"Yeah, we hit a snag." He replied quickly. I've heard him use that term before, but not like this.

"What kind of snag, Dameron?" Jencon asked, having me look over at Poe directly in the eyes as Chewie answered that question with a huge explanation. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"You light speed skipped?" I asked, keeping my voice level and toned, I could see Jencon from the corner of my eye grimace a bit as Poe briefly closed his eyes for a split second.

"I had no choice, we were trying to get rid of the tie fighters on our tail and we almost—"

"You gonna tell Rey?" Jencon asked, Poe and I gave him a small look and Jencon slammed his mouth shut, "Sorry. Hey Chewie, let's get your supplies," Th saw the both of them walk away from the both of us now since they were feeling like we were about to have a small spit of a fight. It was now just the two of us on the end of the ramp. I cleared my throat now as we were both now alone, just the two fo us talking as the workers were already trying to get the situation out of the way and under control.

"Are you alright, at least?" I asked him, seeing him give me a small smile.

"I'm fine, Neyli. We're all okay and we found the spy," He replied, having me shift in my spot now as I gave him a concerned look.

"You sound a bit mad about it," I commented, seeing that it was irritated about it. I was about to ask him about it when he looked past me and I looked too, wondering what he found with his eyes. it was Rey, BB-8 right behind me and they too were coming to the clearing. She too was shocked from the state of the ship, almost as bad as I was, but in comparison to myself, Rey looked like she was about to chew out whoever did damage to the ship.

"Good grief," Peo said in a grumble now as I felt him sneak a kiss on my head and squeeze my hand before he walked past me, "I'll talk to you later about it, I just can't deal with this…"

"Poe?" I called out to him as he was walking away and going over to Rey and BB-8 with his hands on his hips.

"Hey, there's a spy?" Rey asked.

"Really could have used your help back there," For commented with a sarcastic look on his face.

"How'd it go?"

"Really bad actually. Really bad."

I heard another set of footsteps, having me look over to see Finn walking down the ramp now, slower and more casual. He had grown in his spot in the Resistance, becoming one of the main officers, and he was fit for the cause. Coming from being a Storm Trooper and then turning his back on all he knew with the First Order, I knew Finn was a good person with a good heart.

Along with something else within him.

"Hey, Neyli," he said to me as we were standing there together side by side.

"Finn, you okay?" I asked him now with a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, just peachy with Poe in one of his moods," Finn replied, having me snort now from his comment.

"Eh, you get used to it after a while," I commented, then gesturing to the ship, "I do appreciate him almost lighting my father's ship on fire completely."

"Sorry about that," Finn apologized.

"You don't need to apologize, I know you had nothing to do with it," I reassured him as he scratched the back of his neck," Poe told me that you guys found the spy?"

He paused, thinking of how to tell me this new information now as I could tell he too was stunned about the news. Before he could even answer, I saw him look over at Poe and Rey with a concerted look on his face. I looked too, already dreading that they were fighting each other.

"Great," I muttered, the both of us walking over to where the both of them are, already feeling and sensing the distress between the both of us and how they were speaking to each other. This was not the place for something like this.

"You know what you are: difficult. Really difficult, you're a difficult man." Rey voiced to him with a snark of a smile on her face as she stalked past him and over to where Finn and I were.

"And you're….oh you're…." Poe muttered, already beyond irritated as he then knelt to look at BB-8. I rolled my eyes as I passed the both of them and over to Poe, standing next to him and seeing him look over his droid, Rey and Finn were talking to each other in their friendly and gentle manner, in which I placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. He didn't coil back, he just kept still as I was trying to give him some sense of reassurance and peace within him since I could sense he was a bit out of it.

"Take a breath, Poe," I reminded him, seeing him breathe uneasily now through his nose and clench onto his droid. BB-8 beeped at him in agreement as Poe stood back up and looked over at me with a brief look of affection there, "What happened with the spy?"

"You're not gonna like it," Poe said to me in his softer tone, having me already feel on edge since he hasn't told me just yet. But then Chewbacca told Rey about the light speed skip, and once again the conversation was placed on pause.

"You light speed skipped?!"

"Yeah well, it got us back here,"

"Poe, the compressor's down!" Rey scolded him.

"Oh, I know! I was there!" Poe barked back at her.

"Every time," Finn grumbled next to me as they went on another argument amongst each other with Finn and me in the middle of it. I stayed still and both Poe and Rey were once again arguing amongst each other and. It felt like I was watching my own mother and father argue when I was little, it was both amusing and irritating at the same time. Who knew that two headstrong individuals could be able to talk an argument like this all the time, but of course I knew. My mom and dad made these two look tame.

I watched next to BB-8 from afar while Finn was trying to get them both to stop and calm down, in which I had to give Finn credit in trying to get his two friends back in the same headspace. It was the one thing I noticed in him, the calmness around him and surging through him in comparison to Poe's instinctual jumps and Rey's frustration. Finn was calm, Finn was peaceful, and I knew it then and there something else was there and maybe he didn't know about it just yet.

Poe shot up and walked away, the three of us trailing behind him. I could tell in how his shoulders were hunched and how his hands were making fists at his sides, he was losing his patience very fast.

"What happened?" Rey asked.

"Bad news, that's what happened."

"No spy?"

"No, spy."

"Did we make contact with the spy or not?"

"There's a mole in the First Order and they sent us a message," Finn answered, all fo us stopping our tracks and having me look at him in shock now from what he told us. A mole in the First Order? This was harder to digest and other news that we got in the past, and it didn't seem possible at all for something like this.

"You dropped a tree on him?" Poe asked, having me look at Finn for some clearance and ouse help to make the argument stop. I placed my hand in front of both of them to give some kind of sign to have them both stop.

"Guys, enough," I voiced, but their voices were already over me as I saw a hint of the pain of Rey's face

"You know I wanted to be out there!" Rey tried to argue, but Poe was fast to fire back

"But you're not! You're here and you're training, for what?" There was silence after Poe said that to her, having me seeing the small hint of pain there evident in her eyes now as he went on, "You're the best fighter we have. We need you, out there…not here."

"Poe," I said his name once, getting his attention away from her. He pushed it a bit too far when it came to blaming Rey for being here and her training, and it almost sounded like he was blaming me for keeping her here since I was helping Rey in the training. Poe took in a sharp breath, running his fingers in his hair now as he stared at me dead in the eyes.

"We need you out there too, in the Falcon where you rightfully belong," He replied, then walking away. I was silent, the three of us standing alone from that outburst. I knew he wasn't meaning it personally with me, he never did when we had our spats. But this one was new, since it was in front of our two closet friends, and it felt more like a dig than anything. I took in a small hallow breath now as Rey fluttered her eyes and looked over at me.

"Neyli…." She trailed off, having me roll my shoulders now and shake my head.

"I'm gonna look at the ship," I muttered, walking away from the both of them. I could hear Finn call out my name softly as I was walking away and getting my mind back in one piece. I knew we were all heated and we were all not in the right frame of mind in current days, but we were still friends amongst one another. If only we could go back to the way things were, now how they are now.

If only.

* * *

It was getting darker as the light was slowing coming to an end. I was watching the Millennium Falcon being repaired and the damages were brought back to a minimum while sitting on top of the main supply box, crossing my legs and practicing my breathing exercises. It was calmer now and the sounds of the night from within the jungle and the terrain around us. There was going to be a meeting held about the spy and the information that was found with the rest of the Resistance in attendance, which gave me time to be alone and collect my thought.

But I wasn't alone.

Two arms wrapped around me and I felt warmth all over. I knew that hold plenty of times in the past and I sighed softly as a chin was resting against my shoulder and a head against my own. I breathed in the small smell of sweat, grease, and a hint of the plants.

"I'm an idiot," Poe mumbled against my hold, having me reach over to tap his hands that were resting on my lower stomach, shaking my head carefully.

"You're not an idiot," I reminded him, still looking at the ship in front of us, "You're stubborn, and a fool at times, but not an idiot."

"That's supposed to be better?" Poe asked unconvinced. I grinned as I yanked him softly by his arm to walk around and stand in front of me. As he did, I could see the tiredness and the wear of the war on his face, not to mention how he looked like he hasn't had a steady though for days. He peered down at him as I laced our fingers together.

"Poe Dameron, you are not an idiot by no means," I reminded him, smiling at him as I tugged his hands, "Better now?"

"Not really, but it'll do," Poe replied as I tilted my head at him. I could tell he was thinking, so lost in his thoughts that it seemed like he was within his haze.

"What is it?" I asked him, seeing him think about it some more now as he walked over to sit next to me on the supply box. Our hands were still laced together while he pointed with his spare hand to the Falcon.

"What I said back there, about you belonging here on this ship, I did mean it," He explained, "I mean, it was your father's ship and now I think you should be the one flying it."

"I don't mind other's flying it when I know the ship's being used for the cause," I reminded Poe, "My dad was more of a stickler about it than I'll ever be, and I know it's in good hands," I then raised an eyebrow at him now, "You don't like how Rey's protective of the ship?"

"It's not that at all!" Poe rebuffed me, having me grin, "I just…I think it feels right if you're there. You were a pilot when I met you."

"And before that, a Jedi," I added, "As much as you think you needed Rey and me up there with you and Finn, I needed to help her. Poe…Rey's in a struggle with the Force. I can sense it and how she's being pulled all over…and I think I know who's doing it,"

Poe watched me in hesitance now as I was thinking about it to myself, not wanting to say his name out loud as he then said it first, "Your brother."

"I think so," I agreed, "I see him in my dreams and I know he's trying to get into Rey's head using the Dark Side. I never thought he would be so desperate to do so. But why her?" That was the true question, having me worry or Rey more than ever.

"What about you?" He asked, almost sounding a bit worried now as I was thinking about Rey. I locked eyes with him, seeing him look and search my eyes in hopes that he would see that I was okay. He knew enough that there was to know about The Force and how I was a Jedi in the past, and he knew who my brother and was and that whole background.

Poe was there with the discovery that not only that my brother was alive, but that he went to the Dark Side. That was my main fear: turning to the Dark Side as my brother did. Poe, like my mother, had enough confidence in me to know that I had more light within me than darkness.

"I know where I stand with The Force," I reassured him, squeezing our joined hands together, "That's why I needed to be there for Rey and to be here for the Resistance. I will do all I can to have us win the war," I saw Poe searching my eyes briefly before he leaned over to kiss me square on the lips. I sighed against him, feeling lighter than before and calmer. Poe had that affect one me, and he's always had it with me since the beginning when we first met years and years ago.

Once he pulled away from me, he gave me a small but soothing grin from ear to ear now, "I love you,"

"I love you too, Poe," I answered him back now as I could read the lines there on his face, the faint scars he got from the past and how he still looked as handsome as ever, "And I'll still marry you, even if you're stubborn." He eyed me with a smirk on his face, seeing that I was joking with him as he wrapped his spare arm around my neck pull my head against his shoulder and kiss my hair.

"And you're snarky, but I kind of like you," he joked back, having me chicle and wrap my spare hand around his waist. We were back our snarky selves again with each other, the banter we once had a long time ago. I only wanted this to stay for a while, so I soaked it in for now.

"Good to know," I mumbled against his shirt.

* * *

"We decoded the intel from the First Order spy, and it confirms the worst: Emperor Palpatine has returned," Poe explained to the group, having the whole feeling of dread come over us now as we were sinking in with the actual news from the so call spy. I was standing next to Chewbacca and Rey, seeing all of the faces of the Resistance dropping to fear and dread. But this seemed impossible, beyond impossible since he was defeat by my own Grandfather, the infamous Death Vader, and my Uncle Luke as well.

This can't be real.

"Wait, do we believe this?" Rose asked.

"It cannot be! The emperor's dead!" Aftab Ackbar said in protest and unbelief.

"Dark signs, cloning…secrets only the Sith knew." Beaumont Kin, a fellow soldier and fighter confirmed with the group.

"He's planning his revenge. His followers have been building something for years. The largest fleet the galaxy's ever known. He calls it the Final Order. In 16 hours, the attack on all free worlds begin. The Emperor and his fleet have been hiding in the unknown regions…on a world called Exegol." Poe explained with a grave look on his face. I wanted so badly to say something, but my tongue was beyond thick within my own mouth from all of this new important information. R2-D2 chirped rapidly now as then C-3PO translated for the group.

"Exegol does not appear on any star chart," C-3PO explained next to R2D2, "But legends describe it as the hidden world of the Sith."

I watched carefully as Rey walked away briskly as we were all still in our meeting, something was on her mind or just came suddenly, but she was determined as Poe was now looking at both myself and my mother.

"So Palpatine's been out there all this time, pulling the strings," He said in a worried tone to my mother.

"In the shadows, always, since the beginning." My mother said in agreement.

"If we want to stop him, we must find him," Maz explained, "We must find Exegol." I knew Maz was right, we all knew it for certain. If this Palpatine was really alive, if he did return, then we knew he was going to be the main threat in our fight for freedom in the war. He was beyond powerful, far too powerful for any one of us to take down on our own, but we did have to try.

"General," We all looked over to see that Rey came back to our circle, holding a thick worn book close to her chest. I could see something clicked in her head, a look of determination and sureness was evident now as she looked over at my mother.

"Can I talk to you?"


	3. Chapter 3

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **I'm gonna try to draw this story out because I really want to get Neyli's POV on all that's going on in the story! Thanks for the reviews so far!

For the Fore Connection, here's the difference with Kylo Ren/Ben and Neyli:

Neyli

**Kylo Ren/Ben**

* * *

"Let me see that tool there, Chewie," I said to Chewbacca as I was getting some more work done on the Falcon. It was a hard thing to hear and to swallow down: Palpatine returning and coming back with vengeance. How was it possible for something like this to happen, and in a critical time for us as the Resistance? We were always one step forward and then two steps back, never once could we find a good footing to be ahead of the war and with our lives still in the balance. Now that Rey was talking to my mother, something that was a secret and she needed to tell, I had to get seem things done on my dad's old ship and hoping that it would clear my mind.

Speaking of which.

"Neyli?" I heard behind me, having me looked around from my hand being on the surface of the Falcon and seeing Rey there. I was silent for a moment now, seeing how hesitant Rey was looking very hesitant in just approaching me. Since the beginning when we met, we were fine and civil with each other, helping each other along the way.

But now I could sense that she was uneasy with all of what's going on, with my brother still along the Dark Side and Rey connecting with him, it was all so much for one person to do.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry," She explained, her hands awkwardly at her sides and one of her hands clutching the strap from her staff that was hung on her shoulder. She looked beyond scared to take to me, though I could see she was putting on a brave face as she usually did. She was brave, smart, and kind to anyone who showed her grace and kindness, and yet she was still hurting inside.

"It wasn't my place to treat the Falcon like it was my own," She paused, swallowing a bit now as she shifted in her stance, "It was your fathers….and I think you should be the one make the choices for it and make the decisions," I felt bad then, seeing how she felt like she was taking over the ship and how it should be handled. I knew she cared for the ship, way more than others would, and I cared for it too. It never really came across my mind or bothered me, but I could see how Rey felt bad about it when Poe said that comment about me belonging on the ship.

"Rey, I never was mad that you're using the ship," I said to her more softly, walking over to stand in front of me a bit now as she was still feeling uneasy, "My father, as possessed he was with this ship, he knew that the Falcon was going to be sued for the good of the cause, no matter how far away he tried to run. In the end, I think he knew we both were going to take good care of it, and because of that I knew you would going to take good care of her,"

Rey gave me a small smile and I placed my hand on her arm now, feeling how cool she was against my pilot and mechanical hands. She placed her own hand on my own on her arm, both of us coming to some kind of agreement.

"I think that's why I'm gonna fly her one more time," Rey said with her soft smile, having me raise my eyebrow at her in question.

"What do you mean?" I asked. She looked behind me for a brief second, having me see that she was looking at my mother, who was talking to one of the officers who was a bit away from us. Something she spoke about with my mother was now in the middle of the both of us, I could feel it.

"I'm going to find a Sith Wayfinder," She explained to me, in which my eyes bit a big bigger now from hearing that news, "Your Uncle Luke knows about it and it's the only way to get to Exegol, the only way to find the planet. I need to find it, and find the Emperor."

"Are you sure, really sure?" I asked her, "It could be dangerous."

"More certain now than I was before," She explained, "If we find the Wayfinder, then we can find Palpatine and stop him with his fleet before any other worlds get destroyed. Neyli, this could be our only chance." I was torn, my heart feeling heavy from what I was hearing about where Rey was going to go and what she intended on doing.

"Are you going alone?" I asked, seeing him hesitate there as I gave her a knowing look, "Rey, you can't think of doing this alone, what if—"

"I have to," She answered, "It's dangerous."

"Of course it is, and you're going to be in more trouble," I reminded her, looking back at the Falcon one more time with this heaviness weighing on me. Rey going out alone, going to something that could not only end her life, but the life of the Resistance, and yet she was telling me as if I was supposed to be happy about it let this go on. I knew what I had to do.

I was done hiding on the base of the planet, I was done being hesitant on who I was in my past as a Jedi, and I was done being afraid of who I was supposed to me. I placed my hand one more time on the surface on my father's ship, hoping it would give me some kind of strength in what I was about to do.

"Well, you're gonna need a pilot," I said to me, moving my hand away and walking over to the ramp now without taking a look behind me at Rey, "Also, we can brush up on your sparing."

"You're coming with me?" Rey asked, sounding surprised. I turned on my heel and looked at her with my hands on my hips.

"Of course I am," I replied, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because it's dangerous and I should be going alone," She explained, walking over to me now as I could see her search my eyes, "I can't let you do this."

"Being alone, at a time like this, is not safe and it's not right," I told her kindly, "Believe me, I've seen people close to my heart think that being alone is the best thing and it was wrong. You're no longer alone in this fight," I paused, seeing her think about it more in her head now as we heard footsteps behind us. Poe, Finn, C-3PO, and BB-8 were coming out way.

"You got her up and running with the compressor's working?" Poe asked me, having me wink at him now as he was now focusing on Rey in between us.

"You were right before: I'm gonna pick up Luke's search for Exegol. I'm gonna start where his trail when cold: The forbidden desert of Pasaana." She explained to him, in which I saw Poe nod his head.

"Yeah, I know. We're going with you," He replied with a nod of his head., grasping her arm briefly before he walked over to the ramp where I was standing and he eyed me, "You're coming too?"

"I'm not letting her go without some support," I explained, seeing him pause for a brief moment before I pointed at him, "You were going to try to make me stay, weren't you?" He raised his hands in surrender to me now as he almost rolled his eyes.

"Learning from past experiences with you, I don't question your motives anymore," He replied as he walked a bit closer to me now, "Though I will remind you that it is dangerous and maybe your mother would want you here instead."

"Not the slightest chance, Dameron," I said back to him, "My mom's learned to let me help out wherever I can. Plus, Rey needs all the support and help she can get."

"And she's getting it from us," Poe said in agreement. He laced our fingers together, squeezing it briefly before he locked eyes with her within our own intimate bubble. We only had a fleeting moment between us now, and I knew that the more talking we were going to do, the less time we had to focus. I just gave him a small smile, seeing him do the same as we both looked over to see Finn talk to Rey.

"It's too dangerous, Finn."

"We go together," Rey was stunned in how she went from being alone to having a group who was willing to be with her and behind her. I knew this was her own fight that she wanted to pursue, but she always knew deep down we weren't going to let her go without us watching her and hoping to help her.

Chewbacca chirped at her, then BB-8 beeping his acknowledgment.

"I wholeheartedly agree!" said C-3PO.

It was decided.

* * *

"Take care of yourself," Jencon said to me as he was giving me one last hug from the outside of the Falcon, "I don't want you to get into too much trouble."

"I never do," I reminded him as we pulled away and I searched his face. I could tell he was uneasy about this, this mission that was far too important and far too critical to mess up. I wanted to give him some ease about it and how we were doing the right thing, that I was doing the right thing.

"Take care of my mom," I said to him carefully, "Make sure she's okay."

"Come back and do that yourself," Jencon said in a shaky tone, almost like he was getting emotional from us parting. He was my dear friend, someone who I grew close to and I went to for counsel. This was harder than I thought, no wonder why he was breaking.

"Deal," I said to him, giving him one sneaky kiss on the cheek before I walked over to my mother, who was waiting for me off to the side. I gave her one big smile, seeing and feeling her take both of my hands in her own.

"You're gonna look out of her?" She asked me.

"Of course," I replied.

"And who's gonna look after you?" She asked me, having me pause and tilt my head at her.

"No one," I answered, seeing her shift a bit in front of me "No one needs too." I felt as though she needed to hear that from me, with all of her worry about her children and losing one already practically, let alone her husband, it was going to be hard for her to have me leave her. I knew what I had to do, and she knew the same.

She reached up to cup my cheek in her hand, not moving another inch now as she took in a gentle breath.

"Rely on The Force, let it guide you and all you do," She reminded me, having me nod my head with her hand against my skin, "Your head and your heart are in the right place: use them."

"I will mom," I reassured her.

"You have your pistol?" she asked, having me grin.

"Yes,"

"Your saber?" She questioned, having me point down to my own holster where my pistol was on one side and my saber was on the other side.

"I'm gonna finish my saber on the ship," I explained, seeing my mother nod her head, "There are modifications that are needed that I had no time to get to. But I'll get it done."

"I have someone of your fathers that I want you to have. It's hidden in the ship, not even Rey or Chewie know about it. I do, it had your father's prized possessions in there and I think you should have it." She then pulled out from one of her vest pockets a paper with a small symbol there on the top of it. It looked like the sun, precise and with many rays all around it, "Look for this symbol, that's where you'll find it."

"Are you sure?" I asked, feeling as though it wasn't my place to have some things from my father.

"Positive," My mother replied with a big grin. I could hear the Falcon warming up now, my mother wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into a fierce hug. I felt the hug through my core, how it felt like this hug was supposed to be engraved in me for a long while. I held that hug. not wanting to let go for a while but knowing that it had to be done.

"I love you," She said to me in my hair.

"I love you too."

* * *

**Millennium Falcon**

Once we were up in the air and we were out in space, I was sitting in the co-pilot seat with Rey at the wheel. Finn, Poe, and Chewie were behind us as I was watching Rey go through the checklist smoothly ad without one hiccup, having me look at her with a hint of pride. It was great being back at the Falcon, almost like it was yesterday when I was here flying with my father and we were helping out the Resistance on Starkiller Base. But this was different, and this was life or death.

"This ship's in great shape, Rey," I commented to her with a grin, seeing her smile.

"It's a good ship," She replied. I then remember something that my mother told me to get and to do. It felt like it was the right time before we go heavy into the mission, so as I got up I heard Rey said, "You alright?"

"I need to stretch my legs," I replied, not telling her the whole truth as I got out from the co-pilots seat. I walked by Chewie and clasped his shoulder, "Take the seat, Chewie."

"You good?" Poe asked, barely touching my arm with his fingers, seeing a small look on his face. I gave him a small smile and nodded, though he could see something else there on my face as I moved out of the cockpit and into the main walkway of the ship. It was quiet, the soothing humming of the ship moving through outer space was calming as I walked over to where I should look. I knew this ship well, very well, there was one place where my father would hideout and sleep from time to time.

In his small quarters off of the chess room, it looked just the same as it did when he was here last. I figured Rey wouldn't touch it at all, out fo respect to my father. But I took out the paper that my mother gave me, seeing the symbol there on the top and I looked around for a few moments. Nothing came out to me, the drawers pushed in and his bed that was tucked in the corner was somewhat made. It broke my heart slightly to see this and not my father, his presence was still there and I could feel it along my skin and maybe over my shoulder.

It felt like he was still there.

Something caught my eye in the corner of the wall, tucked behind a few lines and I looked twice to see what it was, in fact, the symbol on the paper. I walked over to the right where the symbol was, not knowing what there was behind that small door. Was it a door? The sun symbol was drawn there with fire, etched into the metal and it looked like it belonged there within the ship.

As soon as I pressed the middle, the wall in front of me slid over to the side. There was a small compartment in the wall, a tall slim hole that looked like a locker. I instantly saw some of my dad's old things there: his boots, a few trinkets and small collector items on the top shelf. But two things stood out to me that made me pause and almost lose my breath. The two things that my father always had on him.

His black vest, and his blaster in his holster.

Something in my had to reach out and touch the material of his vest to be sure that it was there, that this was no dream. But there it was, hung up and showing all of the worn and wear and tear that my father went through. I knew he wore this all the time, it was a sign of passage and a sign of who he was and how he loved his life. I grinned from seeing it there on the hanger, and right next to, of course, was his holster with his blaster. The blaster was neat and shined, but I saw the wear on the handle and the scares along the top of the leather.

My father went through a lot, he suffered plenty and he saw plenty too. But he was still my father, and I knew we had talks in the past on how he felt like he failed. Not just with me, but with Ben too. I loved him far too much to see all of those faults and fallbacks as who he was.

Was this what my mother wanted me to see? Did she want me to have all of these things from him? Why didn't she want these things for herself? There must have been something she knew that was there between my father and me, a special bond and relationship that was different from my own relationship with her. This was simple, it was gentle, and it was all I wanted from a father. He was a good father, a wonderful one, so my mother wanted me to have some kind of piece of my father there with me always.

Always.

I walked out of his quarters, moving the vest around slightly to get it to feel right on me. I had on a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled above my elbows, my black captain pants and boots, a grey scarf wrapped loosely around my neck and my hair was braided off and away from my face, the braid over my shoulder and some strands staying out and around my face. The blaster holster was on my waist and thigh with the blaster already in and ready for use. Maybe I was channeling my inner Han Solo, but it felt right wearing these items from my late father.

"Neyli…" I looked over to see Poe walking over to me now, his face when he saw me looked a bit amazed now as I was standing there in the middle of the hallway. He was quiet for a mere moment, having me now wait for him to say something.

"What?" I asked, looking down at my outfit in case there was something wrong with it. He cleared his throat slightly, making me look back up at him, seeing a glint there in his eyes.

"You look good," He said to me, having me look at him in surprise.

"Really?" I asked, surprised now as he grinned and walked over slowly to be within my presence. I felt a flutter there when he was close enough for me to see him look at me up and down in more detail. It was the same feeling that I had when we were first together when seemed like years and years back, that feeling of excitement and adrenaline at the same time.

"You looked really good in blue, by the way," He commented, having me grin at him. I moved my hands up to move his own scarf around to make it look doable for me.

"You look good yourself," I commented back to him as he looked down at my vest, finally seeing what I was wearing. He didn't say anything, maybe he didn't know how it meant for me to have this now and to use this to my discretion.

"This was my father's vest," I explained, seeing Poe watch me novas I then looked down and pointed to the blaster and holster, "These were his too. My mom figured I should have theses now,." It was a somber feeling and moment, it was still settling within my own heart that this could be the most dangerous missions I've been on and I might be able to live beyond this. If there was something that was going to happen to me, at least I wore a piece of my father along the way.

Poe slowly then wrapped his arms around me and gave me a gentle and all-consuming hug there in the middle of the hallway. I hugged him, grasping his shirt within my fingers and rested my forehead on his shoulder now as we were having our moment there. Who knew how this was going to end? I wished for only the positive, and yet I had to be realistic.

"We're gonna win this war," Poe reassured me, having me nod my head against his shoulder.

"I know," I reminded him.

"And after we win this, you and I are gonna get married and have the life we wanted," Poe promised me as he rubbed my back with his fingers, "You believe me?"

"You know I do, Poe."

* * *

I was sitting crisscross on the floor of the chess room, we were almost at Paasan within a few minutes, and I was working on my lightsaber. I wanted to make it better, and with some of the scraps and pieces that I harbored over the years, it was time for me to finished the last minute touches on my saber. But as I was working in the silence of the chess room, I sensed another presence there within the walls of the ship, the humming was accompanied by something else. I paused in my work, focusing on what that feeling was and where it was coming from. A familiar presence, like another being, was in the room.

**"Neyli…."**

I looked straight ahead, already knowing that there wasn't another physical there in the room but someone else was trying to get to me and contact me. I placed my saber on the ground in front of my feet, closing my eyes and trying to channel where I was hearing the voice and who it was that was talking to me. They were far away, almost closed off and muffled, so I was taking a few deep breaths, trying to find the voice within my own head.

**"Neyli…I can feel your presence…"**

The voice was sharper now, crisper and I knew instantly who it was. I knew that I was keeping my place and where I was blank, just like how I was trained and how I practiced in the past. My own head was blank, my breathing was even and normal, and I wasn't going to break Not this time.

"Ben…"

**"Neyli…..I know you're close to me….you're with the scavenger."**

"You know her name, Ben."

**"I'm not Ben."** I shifted in my spot there on the floor, sensing uncertainty with him and how he seemed too fast to try and correct me. It felt like a sting of pain there, hearing it from my brother. I wanted him to know where I was coming from, and that I wasn't there to harm him or fight him.

"You are Ben. I can sense the cracks within you…you're afraid."

**"I'm warning you Neyli….This is not your fight."**

"Neither is it yours. You're not meant to be like this, you and I both know that. You're still my blood, the light is in you and it wants you to let it out."

**"You don't know me at all."**

"I know you more than you think. You're my brother…I know you're still there, and I'll find you."

There was nothing else heard there in the conversation now, but I could still sense him and feel his own inner sense of uncertainty. He was being challenged within himself, he was frail. Not strong as he was when he reached me the first time a year ago. This time, he was less of Kylo…and more of Ben.

I saw a small glimmer of a glance at Ben, wherever he was and that he was alone. He was somewhere in a white room, maybe on one of the ships with the First Order. He didn't have his mask on, where there were plenty of red marks and cracks there along the surface of the mask. But I was focusing on his face, seeing the one lengthy scar there along his face and his skin. His own dark eyes and his dark brown hair swatted away from his face. I felt a breath leave me when I saw his face, having me think back to when we were children. I still loved a part of Ben that was still there, and I could still feel him there. The small feeling of Ben Organa Solo was resting there within him, and whether he knew it or not, I knew it was there.

"You're still my brother."


	4. Chapter 4

**Planet Paasana **

It was hot there on the desert planet when we landed the Falcon, the one sun it had was beating down on us as we tracked across the sand to follow the coordinates that my Uncle Luke left behind in one of his journals. Rey found it when she encountered my Uncle, and with her help, I punched in the precise coordinates which lead us here.

I didn't bring up my encounter with Ben to Poe since it felt like we were already going through a rough mission. I felt like he wouldn't have liked it, and I wouldn't have blamed him. Poe was interrogated by Ben years ago when Poe was on Jakku getting the information of my Uncle Luke. So there was a sore spot, who was I change that since at that time I thought my brother was dead. So now, it might not be the best time to tell Poe that I was trying to connect and save my brother.

Maybe I'll wait on that.

"You sure this is it?" Poe asked as we were walking together along the edge of a smaller cliff, about to round the corner. Poe was leading the way, I was right behind him, and then it was Finn, Rey, Chewie, BB-8, and C-3PO.

"These are the exact coordinates Master Luke left behind," C-3PO explained as we finally made it around the corner and saw a vast opening. But there was massive gathering there in the clearing of the desert, what seemed to be thousands of beings were all over the top of the sand in celebration of some kind. Flags and kites were waving in red, green and yellow, massive clouds of color dust were shrining high in the air, and the distant sound of music was vibrating in the ground as we stopped in both awe and shock.

"What is this?" I asked almost in shock now as I was standing next to Poe and Finn.

"The Aki -Aki festival of the ancestors! This celebration occurs only once every 42 years!" C-3PO said in excitement from the back of the group.

"Well, that's lucky," Finn muttered sarcastically.

"Lucky indeed! This festival is known for both its colorful kites and its delectable sweets!"

We all turned our heads slowly at C-3PO, almost shocked that he didn't get any kind of that sarcasm or how this was worse than we thought.

It was an awaked moment for certain.

* * *

We tried to weave our way through the crowd that was dancing with the rhythmic music. Their robes flowed out, long and entrancing in reds, yellows, greens, and some blues, as we were trying to both stick close together and not be seen as outsiders. It was hard since we were the only ones not in colorful robes.

"I've never seen anything like this!" Rey said to me as we were following Poe through the crowd.

"I've never seen fewer Sith Wayfinders," Finn muttered as he passed us up. I knew we had a task at hand and that we had to be careful.

"There's always random First Order patrols in places like these," I explained to the group as we were moving towards the market area, away from the dancing. I looked over my shoulder at Chewbacca who was in the back of the group, "Keep your heads down….Chewie,"

Chewie tried to walk and crouch down at the same time as we were approached the outskirts of the market place. It was busy, locals moving around and making deals to get new products and trade them.

"Let's split up, see what the locals know," Poe explained as we were all branching off and going to see what we could gather. I went over to the left, seeing the rows of booths that were displaying all the trinkets and parts that were waiting to be bought or traded. I walked casually, pulling the back part of my scarf over my hair and head to cover it from the sun, and fastening the front part over my nose and mouth. It was both for covering in the heat, but mostly to protect my identity and face. There was no real clue as to who was watching us our here and trying to stop us, with this fragile mission underway, I had no clue who I could trust outside of my group that came with me.

With all the hustle of the market place, my mind was still in another place, mostly on another person. I was still thinking of my brother and how I could hear him, but I wished there was more. But I knew I was treading on thin ice, both wanting to reach my brother and wanting to help finish the war with the First Order. It felt like I was walking down a small and thin line, down the middle of both sides. Sure I wasn't going to want the First Order to win at all, but my brother was alive.

He was alive it felt like he needed me. I made my way over to where some of the land speeders were resting and parked, a few of the locals were standing there and talking to each other. Of course, I wasn't looking hard enough to see something move to my left. it almost looked like a figure in a mask, in which I tried to look directly and see who it was. But the being was out of sight, almost having me feel a chill down my spine.

"You find anything?" I whirled around, seeing Poe and Finn approach me with Chewie there. I moved the front part of the scarf away from my face, seeing that I was safe enough to do it.

"Nothing yet," I replied to him, "You guys?"

"Nope, it seems like the locals don't know a whole lot about SIth Wayfinders around here," Poe explained. As soon as he said that though, something was sensed and shifted in me, having me freeze there in front of both of them now and looked dead ahead. Rey…she wasn't far from here.

She was connecting to someone. She was in distress.

"Neyli?" Poe asked, grasping my arm with his gloved hand, seeing that I was off, "What is it?"

I felt her fear heightened now as I took in a shaky breath, knowing that she was now in a panic. Whoever she was talking to frightened her, almost made her emotional with how she was talking. I blinked a few times before looking back at Poe, seeing that he was watching me the whole time and seeing how it almost looked like I was having an out of body experience.

"Where's Rey?" I asked him, seeing him looked at me confused. But Finn looked at me now with determination, almost breaking in to stand in front of me instead of Poe.

"What happened?" I didn't know what he meant by that, and how he was so urgent about it. Did he know what I was feeling and how I was feeling it? If he did. did that mean…

"Neyli, what's going on?" Poe asked me, seeing that I wasn't answering both himself and Finn. I looked away from Finn now back to Poe.

"She's in trouble," I explained, the both of them looking confused. But before I could explain myself some more, Rey right on cue ran over to us with speed and with a look of fear on her face. BB-8 was rowing right behind her as we all met there in the middle of the area

"We have to go, back to the Falcon, now," she explained.

"Why?" Finn asked.

"It's Ren," Rey explained, having me look at her in shock. Ben was trying to contact her? Did he? Did he see where we were? He must have and it made me look around to see where we came from and I grabbed Poe's hand.

"Come on! Quickly!" I said to all of them as we all started to run and weave our way through the crowd. I was in the front with Poe holding my hand, staying right behind me with the others close on our heels. If he knew where we were, then we needed to leave as fast as possible before we were ambushed and killed here on this remote planet.

We were about to get over to the edge of the market when we had to skid to the halt. A stormtrooper was in front of us, a gun out and ready to fire as we were frozen in our spots. Poe almost pushed me behind him as we were bunched in front of him, clearly caught.

"Hold it right there!" The Stormtrooper said to us before he spoke into his communicator with a gun still pointed at us, "I have the fugitives! All units report to—" He was stopped and killed instantly with a worry pointing through his helmet. We were all shocked and stepped back slightly, seeing him crumble to the floor and then we all turned. It was the same masked being I saw moments before, a crossbow in his hands. HIs local mask was staring right at us.

"Follow me," He said with his voice masked. We followed, going in a line as he waved his way back into the massive crowd of the festival. We were staying close to him while he was making his way over to a moving vessel that was rolling our way. It looked like a land rover, bigger and slower than other's I've seen in the past.

"Hurry!" The figure said to us as there was an opening to jump inside the vessel. He hopped in with ease, Poe going in next as he reached out to pull me up with him. As we were coming in one by one, we were all watching to see what the figure was going to do with us, "Leia sent me a transmission,"

"How'd you find us?" Finn asked. The figure didn't say anything at first but he reached up to take off his mask. I looked in shock and with a big grin on my face, seeing none other than Lando Calrissian himself in the flesh. It was seeing an old family friend once more, someone whom I haven't seen in a long time.

"Wookies stand out in a crowd," he answered in a grin, Chewie roaring happily as he moved through us to hug him. Lando laughed and looked at Chewie, "Good to see you too, old buddy!"

Once Lando locked eyes with me, his grin was bigger as he threw ups arms around me. I hugged him back, hearing him chuckle as he pulled away and looked at me up and down, "Neyli Organa-Solo. Last time I saw you, you were nothing more than a youngling messing around on your father's ship."

"Not much of a youngling, but I'm still flying the ship," I admitted, "It's good to see you, Uncle Lando!"

"This is General Lando Calrissian!" C-3PO introduced in excitement.

"We knew who he is, 3PO "Rey replied shortly now as we were all watching Lando.

"It is an honor, General!" Finn explained.

"General Calrissian, we're looking for Exegol," Poe explained, the mood shifting from light to serious once again now as I could see the look on Lando's face. He shifted, looking at all of us now as he sighed.

"Of course you are," he commented, bring up his wrist to show a communicator. Once he pressed a button, a hologram of a Sith Wayfinder appeared on top of his wrist and hovered in the air, "Only two remain."

"A Sith Wayfinder. Luke Skywalker came here to find one," Rey explained to him. Lando looked at her fondly and he grinned.

"I know, I was with him. Luke and I were tailing an old Jedi hunter: Ochi. He was carrying a clue that can lead to a Wayfinder. He followed his ship halfway across the galaxy…here. When we got to his ship, it was abandoned. No clue…no Wayfinder." Lando explained to all of us.

"Is Ochi's ship still here?" Rey asked.

"It's out in the desert where he left it," Lando answered.

"We need to get to that ship," Rey explained to us, "Search together." We all heard the infamous sounds of TIE fighters coming into the atmosphere and the sky. I looked over next to Lando, the both of us looking up see at least 6 ships coming to touch down and land on the outside of the festival. It was the First Order, and they were looking for us. I grimaced now as I was standing there against the window.

"I got a bad feeling about this," I said in a low tone, Lando looking over at me now with a glint in his eyes. As I looked back at him, I saw him give me a small smile. I knew that smile, seeing it all the time when he was with my mom and dad back when I was a kid, it was the kind of smile that should nothing was going to bother him or be negative at him.

That was Lando or you.

"You sound just like your old man," He said, having me give him a small smile. He then looked at the rest of the ground, "Ochi's ship is out past Lurch Canyon, Go!"

"Thank you, General," Poe thanked him as he then reached over to grab my hand before I have Lando one more smile. It felt like I wanted him to come along and to be with us, but then again Lando was someone I could call family, and I couldn't have him change his mind for anything.

"Take care of yourself, kid," He said to me with his smile. I gave him one last gentle hug before I nodded my head.

"You do the same, Uncle Lando," I replied, finally moving away from him and hopping out of the vessel back on the sand with Poe next to me. Finn and Chewie joining us now in the same, Finn looking at me in shock.

"Uncle Lando?" He asked me, having me shrug my shoulders.

"He knew my folks before I was born, I grew up around the guy," I answered, "At one point he was practically family."

"I have lots of questions." Finn started to explain, but Poe clasped his hand on his shoulder.

"Not a good time, buddy," Poe reminded him. Rey joined up on the ground with BB-8 and C-3PO, the group of us broke into a run once more to find a way back to our main speeder. The Falcon itself was too far off and there was no way for us to get there in time and outrun the fighters, there had to be a way for us to get there faster. We were running out a clock now.

"There, those speeders!" Poe said as we were going over a smaller hill to a smaller clearing with a few speeders that were parking and away from the locals. I ran over to one speeder as Poe went to the other, having me look over to see how I can get it to work. I peered over to Poe, seeing him go under the speeder he was at and was looking at the configurations there. I tapped the side of my speeder, hoping that one of the panels would work in my favor so I can wire the engine to turn on.

"Ha!" I said in achievement, seeing the panel on the side open with ease as I started to trig the wires into starting up the speeder. Poe was doing the same, Finn next to him. I was almost getting ready to work when Finn peered over at me.

"How did you do that?" He asked me, having my roll my eyes.

"I was a mechanic, remember?" I asked, seeing him think about before he reverted his attention to Poe.

"How did_ you_ know how to do that?" he asked, having me hear my own speeder boost up and start-up from my own having skills. I whirled around over to Chewie and Rey, seeing them rush over to hop on the speeder that I got.

"Time to go!" Poe said, some of the locals seeing what we were doing and they were running over, "Neyli, come on!"

Rushing over to Poe's speeder, I made it to the consul and I got the wheel working, making the speeder move and rushing out of the clearing. I was with Finn, Poe, and C-3PO, whereas Chewie and BB-8 were with Rey. Our two speeders sped out of the area and into the vast desert, thinking that we barely made it out and we were in the clear.

"You know how to fly this thing?!" Poe asked over the roaring of the engine as I steered the speeder. I got the scarf back around my nose and mouth once more to get the dust away from my mouth, having em grin a shim though I didn't think he could see me grin.

"In the words of Poe Dameron: I can fly anything," I replied to him, looking ahead once more and steering the speeder. We were in the clear for a few seconds, but I heard gunfire right behind us. I looked back briefly, seeing two smaller vehicles rolling up right behind us with two stormtroopers on each one. They looked like cycles, and they were shooting right at us.

"Poe!" I said in a warning now as he was starting to shoot the troopers. Rey and Chewie were shooting from next to us in their own speeders, but they were dodging us as we were dodging them. One of the blasts was too close to my head, having me move over just in time before being hit in the neck as I heard C-3PO gasp in horror.

"Oh! They fly now!"

I looked up, seeing one stormtrooper flying high above us with what seemed like some kind of jet pack there and he was shooting down at us. Finn looked at Poe in shock as well.

"They fly now?!"

"They fly now!" Poe in a bitter tone as I was steering us over to the left, where I saw a small passage that we could fit through with some wiggle room. Given the circumstance that we were in, I was feeling ambitious. With a massive rock formation in the middle, Rey went right and I went left. We were splitting up, but something inside of me was telling me that Rey was going to be alright with Chewie and BB-8.

Once we were in the small canyon of rocks, I was moving and weaving us through, trying not to touch the walls. My blaster was in my spare hand, ready to help out if need be, but my eyes were in front of us at the small slim of an opening that we had to work with. It was like my training back to when I was learning how to be a pilot: going with my guy and my instinct to get out alive.

"Keep it steady, Neyli!" Poe said to me from behind, firing with his pistol.

"Get these guys off of our asses then!" I countered back with him, hearing some more blasts behind me.

I was feeling like I was back in my cockpit of my X-Wing, though we were at ground level and not in the sky, and two stormtroopers were about to shoot us to bits and pieces. Both Finn and Poe were trying to get them off our tail as I was getting us way farther and farther away from them.

I looked back, seeing Finn was getting a long rope ready at the end of the speeder, holding it in his hands as he threw it at the smaller speeder behind us. It wrapped around the front wheel there, over and over within the speeder itself as I looked ahead, seeing a smaller opening within the canyon we were in. I looked back at Finn, seeing him look eyes with me.

"Neyli!" He said to me, making me pump on the hand brake. The speeder slowed down and I turned the speeder, throwing the stormtrooper speeder behind us around like a whip to be hitting the side of the rocks of the canyon and blowing up.

"Woo!" Finn said in triumph, Poe and I cheering as well as I got the speeder back on track to get to the end of the canyon, seeing the vast opening of the desert in front of us. It felt like we were finally away from all of the chaos, at least for now and it made me almost give out a sigh of relief. Out in the distance resting on a small structure of rocks, was some kind of smaller ship that seemed like no one was in there or has been in years.

Wait…was it the ship we were looking for? Was that Ochi's ship?

But it was soon shot to hell when our speeder was shot, and we were flying.

I was soaring in the air, seeing things flip upside down and right side up, my stomach turning in knots now as I was hearing Poe and Finn flipping through the air as well. Our speeder was in flames, having me cringe to think as we died. Though it didn't feel like we died, we were flying int he air for a few seconds before we crashed landed on the ground. It was not sand we landed in, it was dangerous and almost like foam now as not only we three landed, but the other speeder and its occupants did as well.

The whole group landed in a heap, struggling for a brief moment to get our heads back in one piece and to make sure that we were all okay. I looked around for a brief moment, seeing that we were all there together and no one was dead. Not yet.

Another round of gunfire was heard, coming right at us. We all spun around in our spot, instantly grabbing our pistols and blaster and aiming right up at the sky. The one stormtrooper who could fly, at least the last living one, was trying to fire at us. Poe, Chewie, myself, Rey, and Finn were shooting at him rapidly. After a few shots from all of us, the stormtrooper finally fell to the ground and slumped onto the desert ground, in which we were wanting to find relief among us.

Yet once again, it was interrupted.

The ground beneath us was getting softer and breaking apart, having me feel like I was sinking now. I panicked, looked around seeing that the others were also sinking.

"What is this?!" I asked aloud in shock and fear, keeping my hands above the ground that felt more like liquid. BB-8 was even trying to roll out of it, but the droid too was stuck.

"Sinking Fields! Grab a hold of something!" Rey said in a panic now.

"Will this ever end?!" C-3PO said in agony as I was feeling myself going lower and lower into the ground without any way of staying on top. I looked over at Poe in panic, seeing him almost to sink forever underneath the field as he was moving around his arms.

"Oh come on!" He said as he was finally under, no longer visible. I looked in horror as I too was swallowed up.

"POE!" I screamed, but I was surrounded by darkness.

Darkness and silence.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **I am SO sorry for the mess that happened with this chapter. My chapter from another story got placed in and I was so CLOSE to removing this story altogether to try again, but I got it to work this time!

If there is a writing issue that you do see in the future, please send me a private message, NOT in the reviews! Thanks!

SO SORRY AGAIN!

* * *

It was muffled when I came to and I was sinking more and more into what was swallowing us. I didn't know which way was up or down, but I was still trying to move with my arms and legs in hopes that I would find something that was grounded. But I wasn't suffocating, nor was I falling too fast. It was slow, then having something beneath me fall out and I was hanging in the air from the waist down.

"Neyli! Hang on!" I hear muffled below me as I was coming through and hearing more sounds around me, A pair of hands were on my waist and legs, guiding me down as I was finally out of the mass that was around me. I was in the air, being guided down slowly and carefully by Poe as I saw we were in some kind of cavern underneath the sand. It was dark, we couldn't see anything as I was looking around and dusted off some of the dust and sand along with my clothes and hair. Poe looked shoveled too, but he was all intact. it was a good sign though I had no idea where we were.

"You good?" Poe asked me, searching my face to see if I got hurt.

"I think I'm okay," I replied, "You?"

"Confused, but fine." Poe admitted, "Where's anyone else?"

"I'm here, Master Solo!" I looked to see C-3PO walking over in a frenzy to me, "This is madness!"

"You'll be fine, 3PO," I reassured him There was muffling a bit away from us, someone else was sinking though as Poe walked over to help bring down Rey from the sinking ceiling. She landed on her feet with help with Poe.

"You alright?" Poe asked her.

"Yeah," Rey answered shortly, still a little dazed, "Where's Finn?"

"Where's Chewie?" Poe asked back to her. While he was helping with Rey, along with the others coming through the ceiling one by one, I was peering around to get some kind of idea where we were and where can we go. It seemed long abandoned, and the burned walkthrough and holes were big enough for us to walk through. Not only was it dark, but it was also cooler and the distinct feeling of humidity was evident.

"How do we get out of here," I said mostly to myself now as I could now hear Finn walked through a smaller walkway away from us.

"I'm good," He replied as he too was dusting himself off.

"Ah, Master Finn!" C-3PO said in relief.

"What is this place?" Finn asked all of us as we were meeting together.

"This isn't the afterlife, is it?" C-3PO said in worry.

"I thought we were goners," Poe explained in relief as the four of us were looking at each other.

"We could have been," I commented, Poe squeezing my arm in comfort.

"We could still be," C-3PO commented near Chewie. The others, I could tell, were thinking the same thing.

"Which way do we go?" Finn asked Rey, then over to me. I was thinking about it oo now as both Rey and I looked at each other. We almost had the same idea, both of us walk over to the edge of the smaller room we were in and taking out our sabers. Rey lit hers first, a blow of blue from my Uncle's lightsaber filled the room and the familiar humming hearing in the small area. I got my saber lit, the glowing yellow was melting with the blur in the room as we both held out our sabers to give some light and some.

Poe took out his flashlight, which looked dim compared to ours, and I could have sworn he had a grim look on his face as Rey looked over to a small opening right behind us. She was leading the way, with us behind me and me taking on the back in case something was there.

"We have to hurry," Rey explained. I gave Poe a knowing look, seeing him look down at his smaller flashlight. I tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"I like your flashlight," I commented, seeing him give me a look as I smirked.

"Shut up," He replied, having me smirk as I squeezed his shoulder. He then walked over to be in front of me, following the group in a line.

"What were you going to tell me?" Rey asked Finn as we were following her throughout the passage.

"When?"

"When you were sinking in the sand, 'I never told you'…" Rey trailed off, Finn walking up to talk to her softly side by side.

"I'll tell you later," He reassured her with a hand on her shoulder, which Poe then walked in between them to break their comfortable moment between the both of them.

"You mean when Poe and Neyli aren't here?" he asked sarcastically, giving Finn a look as he walked on and I shook my head. But I followed, seeing more passageways in other directions and weaving underneath the sandy desert above us.

"Yeah, mmhm," Finn said back smoothly to keep up the banter.

"We're gonna die in the sand burrows and we're keeping secrets," Poe sarcastically joked as he was now leading the way with myself and Chewie right behind him.

"I'll tell you when you tell us all that shifty stuff you do!" Finn commented back to him as Chewie growled in agreement.

"Yeah, to be honest, Poe, I didn't think you knew how to do that kind of stuff anyway," I commented.

"Not you too, Neyli. I thought you were on my side," Poe said to me as I chuckled.

"There are no sides," I reminded him. Poe was looking around at the tunnels that were on either side of us now, having me do the same with my saber and see if something else was here with us.

"Don't want to know what made these tunnels," Poe said in a grimace.

"Judging by the circumference of the tunnel walls, there are—" C-3PO started to explain, but Poe whirled around and shut him off instantly.

'"I said 'I don't want know'…..Not." Poe reminded him shortly as we ere still walking along together hunched in a group. We were walking a few more feet before Poe stopped and aimed his flashlight right in front of him at something that looked buried against the wall.

"What's that?" I asked, seeing that it was big and made mostly of metal, covered in rust and dust.

"Is that a speeder?" Finn questioned.

"An old one," Rey commented. C-3PO once again spoke up.

"Perhaps we will find the driver!" The dried said in hope now as we were scanning the area all around. BB-8 chirped, having me nod in agreement.

"Yep, BB-8. I think 'dead' too," I agreed since it felt like death was already here. Since there was no one else

"Oh my! A Hex charm!" C-3PO said as he looked at the symbol on top of the hood of the speeder.

"A What?" Poe asked as we all over to the droid in front of the speeder.

"A common emblem of Sith loyalists," The droid explained, all of us looking at it with a seriousness on our face. Even Rey looked grim.

"Sith…" Ray trailed off.

"This was Ochi's?" Finn asked, pointing to the speeder.

"Luke sensed it: Ochi never left this place," Rey answered as she moved around to the other side of the speeder.

"And he ended up down here," I added, looking up and around now. Maybe there was something here from him that we could use.

"He headed for his ship," Poe commented as we were scanning the areas for another sign of Ochi, or anything from him, "The same thing happened to us, happened to him." I walked away from the group, feeling the smooth sand beauty my feet as I was walking more and more, not looking down. But I stepped on something brittle and hard, a crunch was heard and it made me freeze up. I looked down slowly and gulped.

"How did Ochi get out?" That was the infamous question as I finally found my voice and answered it.

"He didn't," I said as I saw something almost buried in the sand beneath my feet, I was about to crush it with my boot there. Underneath my boot, and in front of us, was a skeleton. The ribs looked broken off and his jawline was already shattered as the group walk up behind me to see the skeleton too. Poe grabbed both of my arms and gently pulled me back so that I wasn't going to crush the bones there with my feet, and my voice was caught in my throat from seeing live bones there.

"No he didn't," Finn said in agreement and almost disgust.

"Bones," Poe said behind me, almost hiding his face in my hair from seeing it, "I don't do bones." I knew I could stomach it, but it was just as bad seeing it in front of me.

"Bones. Never a good sign," C-3PO said in unison with the disgust. BB-8 then chirped, having Rey look over to where the droid was rolling and signaling something hidden within the sand and against the cave wall.

"Yeah I see it," She told BB-8, making her way over to where the droid was motioning to her. We watching from our spots, seeing Rey reach down into the sand and slowly grasp what looked like a handle, wrapping her fingers around it. Once she pulled it out, we saw that it was a dagger, almost the length of Rey's arm and it had precise edges. It almost looked like it was part of a bigger piece of metal.

"Horrible things…" Rey trailed off as she was looking at the blade up and down, "Has happened with this." She looked up at me, slowly handing it over to me. At first, I wondered why she would do this, but I could tell in the look she was giving me, the small glint there within her eyes.

She wanted me to read it. Use the Force on it.

I took the handle in my spare hand as I turned off my saber, closing my eyes and focusing my energy on the dagger. As soon as I did, giving it a few seconds and standing still, I could feel what Rey was feeling: pain. Continuous and mind consuming pain, over and over and the pain scorching through each part of this blade. It was almost unbearable as I breathed out shakily and opened my eyes to her. She gave me a grimaced look as I found my voice.

"Death surrounds it," I said in a hoarse tone. I was still focusing on the blade itself when Poe wrapped his fingers around my own with the blade in my hand, having me blink and look at him. He gave me a knowing look, taking the blade gently from my hands and looking at the weapon himself.

"There's writing on it." he examined.

"Perhaps I can translate," C-3PO suggested as he took the blade from Poe and held it up to his own eyes. Poe laced our fingers together, staying close to me as we were watching C-3PO. He must have sensed that I was feeling those emotions from the previous victims of the blade, something I wished I would never have to feel again.

"Oh, the location of the Wayfinder has been inscribed on this dagger," C-3PO explained to us, "iI's the clue Master Luke's been searching for!"

"And?" Poe asked, pressing him on.

"Where's the Wayfinder?" I asked right after, seeing 3PO lower and blade and turn to face us.

"I am afraid I cannot tell you," 3PO resounded back to us, Poe instantly looked agitated once more with the droid.

"24 gazillion languages and you can't read that?" he asked, sounding very short and almost borderline angry. But he wasn't the only one, I could feel that the other three of us, even Chewie for that matter, we're losing our patience with the droid.

"I have read it, sir. I know exactly where the Wayfinder is. Unfortunately, it's written in a runic language of the Sith." He answered. I raised my eyebrow at him and threw up my hands with the droid.

"So what?" I asked with a shrug of my shoulders.

"My program forbids me from translating it!" 3PO answered, which to me didn't make sense.

"So you're telling us, the one time we need you to talk, you can't?" Poe questioned.

"Irony sir," 3PO commented, walked around us and still facing us as we were all giving him tired and unpleasant looks, "I am mechanically unable to speak any translations of the Sith…" I wasn't looking at him anymore since something else was moving behind him very slowly, rising to be at his level. I instantly shot out my saber, clicking the blade back on as the others were now noticing what I saw behind 3PO. It rose higher and higher, having em stay still. Finn, Poe, Chewie, and Rey all got their weapons out too, hearing what looked to be a massive serpent or reptile.

"Serpent! Serpent!" 3PO said in horror as he shuffled behind Poe and me. We were all watching this massive being hiss at us with his massive fans and jet back eyes. I was frozen in my spot and not able to move since the spirant was watching us. The body was coiled tightly beneath its head, and with my saber right in front of me, I was ready for anything.

But it was Rey that moved.

She placed her hand on Poe's pistol and lowered it gently, then slowly handing her saber over to Finn after he placed his pistol in its holster. She slowly and carefully walked over to stand in front of us, being right in the middle and the serpent hissing at her. The focus was on Rey now with the serpent, and she carefully walked over a bit more in showing her hands, indicating she wasn't armed.

The serpent hissed her once, making her stop for a moment as Poe had his blaster out and ready. I stayed still, watching every move as I could tell Poe was hesitant.

"Finn..." Poe said in a warning.

"Shh," I said back to him, making sure he was quiet. Rey was once again moving, staying slow and sure. Once she was closer to him, she looked down briefly to see that the serpent was wounded. Three large slash wounds were in the skin of the being, looking a bit fresh and maybe painful. I singly felt the pain of that wound, as if I was wearing them and not the serpent. it was moving, another part of The Force that others wouldn't be able to understand. We would feel the other beings around us: sensing the emotions in the air of those around us and within us.

I felt Rey as she was moving within herself to help this serpent, kneeling down and slowly placing her hand on the wound of the serpent. At first, the serpent hissed but stayed still as Rey close her eyes and breathed slow and sure. I knew what she was doing, though I said nothing now as she was concentrating. For a moment, I could feel her breath within me as I was watching, my hand slowly placed on Poe's arm to have him be still.

The wound was disappearing and dissolving. And then, within a moment, it was gone.

The boys were amazed, but I had a small smirk on my face. Rey was showing her true powers with The Force.

She released her hand on the serpent's hand, the serpent no longer angry but almost peaceful. As if it was timed, the serpent uncoiled itself around Rey and slithered away, showing an opening out of the cave we were in. The opening was showing the bright light that shined in, the rest of the group sighing in relief. My eyes were on Rey though, seeing her still crouched down and rubbing her wrists after what she did with that very hand. Finn, myself and Poe moved to the opening as I saw Chewie reach down and grab the dagger, putting it in his bag that was over his shoulder. As the boys were going back out onto the sandy surface, I looked back at Rey, seeing her look at BB-8.

BB-8 rolled to her in concern as she smiled at him.

"I just transferred a bit of life: Forcer Energy from me to him," Rey explained, thinking about it to herself for a moment.

"You would have done the same,"

* * *

We finally found the ship, sitting on top of a formation of rocks in the middle of the desert. It was a bit of a way away from the sinking fields that we just escaped. so it was a relief that we were finally on the right track in what we were here for and what we wanted to find. We all followed one by one going up the rocks of the formation, with Chewie carrying BB-8 in his massive arms and having me take the end.

"We cannot possibly fly in that old wreck!" 3PO exclaimed.

"We have to keep moving, find someone who can translate that dagger, like a helpful droid," Poe explained as they were climbing the rock formation, grasping one rock sea dehiscing himself up with Finn right behind him.

"I suggest we return to the Millennium Falcon at once!" 3PO pleaded with a wave of his mechanical arms.

"They'll be waiting for us at the Falcon." I reminded him as I followed the group.

"Yeah they'll throw us in the pits of grick," Finn agreed, helping hoist Poe up to the top tier of rocks that was close to the vessel. That was when Rey stopped climbing with us and was slowly looking back at the last desert behind us, looking as if she knew something that

"And use you as a target droid." Poe comment.

"You both make excellent points…..at times" 3PO commented with a sigh, but I was still not moving as I was analyzing and watching Rey. Someone was determined with her, her thoughts were clouded with something as Finn walked over next to her.

"What is it?" He asked. She then turned to face him, handing him her staff and bag carefully without saying a word for a moment.

"I'll be right behind you. It's okay." Rey reassured him as she started to climb back down from where we were, all of us saying nothing now as we watched her. What she was up to, was a mystery. But then again, if she was sensing something, it had to be very important.

"Neyli, you coming?" Poe asked as I looked away from Rey and over to Poe. Everyone else was at the top, waiting to see what I was going to do now. I knew that we were at the ship and we were so close to finding what we needed, but then again something else could happen. It was too good to be true, and we had to be prepared for anything.

"I'll keep watch out here," I explained, seeing him stare at me carefully now as I took out my saber and held it tightly in my hand, "It's fine. You guys get the ship ready, I'll watch the ship and Rey."

"Come on, Poe," Finn said, clapping him on the shoulder as he went on. Poe gave me one more look, almost making sure that I was going to be okay. I nodded at him once, finally seeing him give in and turn away from me. No matter how many times we were on missions and helping the cause, Poe was always going to protective of me and make sure I was going to be okay. At times I loved him for that, and other times I was agitated since I knew I could take care of myself.

I was alone there out on the edge of the rock formation, peering around to make sure that we were safe and nothing else was going to come for us. But I felt what Rey was feeling, the Force was off and warning me about something. The ship was starting to rev up as I was watching Rey walk further and further out into the opening of the desert by herself, going in one particular direction and not slowing down just yet.

I shifted, saber ready to come out in hand as the shift was turning more and more in my stomach. I sensed it again, the dread that the Force was warning me about. I could feel it all over now as I was now getting into a ready stance and my hand was resting on the top of my saber.

Ben was near. Ben was coming.

A sound was heard behind me, having me look over for a brief second before I saw Chewie wandering away from the ship and down the formation into the sand.

"Chewie?" I called out, hearing nothing from him now. But another voice was heard, mostly inside my head as I froze up.

**Neyli.**

It was from Ben. I slammed my eyes shut and I controlled my breathing while he was still talking to me. This was not the best place and not the best time as he spoke again.

**I can sense you're with her. You're with Rey…..it's not the best choice.**

I won't let you kill her, Ben.

**I'm not going to kill her….but I don't want you near her.**

Why? What good is it for you? I felt a bit bolder now talking to him, almost like it was forbidden for me to do so within my head and the others not knowing what we were communicating.

A small faint sound of a solo TIE fighter was heard far off in the distance, having me open my eyes and look in horror as a faint small dot spread from behind a mass amount fo rocks far away. But it was in the same direction and line of sight of Rey, who was standing still in the middle of the desert sand facing the TIE fighter. It was going faster towards her, getting bigger and bigger but the second

**I don't want you a part of this, Neyli. I never did.**

A part of what? Murder? It's not you, Ben.

**I'm not going to murder Rey. She's part of something far bigger than she knows, I want her to realize that.**

Why would I trust you with Rey? After what you did all this time? Nothing was heard on his end now as the TIE fighter was coming faster at tremendous speed and getting closer to Rey. She stayed still, her saber coming to life now as I was feeling immense fear for her safety.

Ben, If you're my brother, and deep down I know you are, you won't hurt Rey. Please, don't hurt her.

A felt a warmth there within me after I said that, almost like the Force was giving me a sense of peace and almost familiarity that I haven't felt in a long time. Not since I was younger…not since I was with Ben.

**She won't be harmed, and neither will you.**

I gasped, not knowing if I heard that correctly before I heard some more shuffling and movement from where Chewie rang off to. I looked over, hearing more of the noise around the corner away from all the action with Rey and the TIE fighter. Moving around the corner and courting low, I ducked down behind a smaller boulder and I saw another vessel parked and the ramp open.

I looked with concern, seeing Chewie in shackles and a neck brace, his bag confiscated by a stormtrooper, but also three men dressed in dark black robes and masks. They looked worn, maybe they saw plenty of battles and wars, but I knew they weren't the friendly type. Their weapons were swords, long staffs with shaper end, all hadn't made, and all deadly.

There was one right behind me

I whirled around just in time, throwing up my hand to stop the blade to hit be with The Force. The blade was frozen, inches from my nose as the man grunted, trying to move and get me. I held it there for a moment, hearing the TIE fighter my brother was in coming louder and faster now. It made me lose focus barely, shuffling the blade to move it over to the side and launch it down. The blade fell to the rock, but before I could get in another move or shot, I was stunned.

I grunted, passing out cold.


	6. Chapter 6

**Force Connection:**

Neyli

_Rey_

* * *

Everything was hazy, my head hurting and heavy as I felt like I was laying out on the floor, something cold and metal. I had to shuffle around a bit to make sure I was okay, mostly sore, but okay. I opened my eyes slowly, very slowly to see that my vision was sideways. I placed my palms on the floor, slowly moving my body to sit up and looking around. My holster was gone, which meant I had no blaster anon saber. This was bad, really bad.

I was captured, within the clutches of the First Order.

This was not what we needed for our mission, let alone being with the enemy now. Where was the other? What happened to Rey and Ben? Oh God…Ben! Where was he? Did he do anything to Rey after I was captured?

Where was he?

I slowly got up from my spot, wobbling a bit with my legs and squinted from something hurting on my face. I had some kind of injury, having me reach up with my latched and confined hands and touched my wound that was apparently above my right eyebrow. The wound was still sore, and my blood was dried mostly with a few drops still fresh and thick. I cringed, looking around in the small cell of a chamber I was in and already trying to think of a way that I could break out of there. I had to, there was no way that I could stay there and not find the others, wherever they were.

They could be someplace far away, already thinking that I was dead and long gone. What were they thinking? I would hope that they would have tried to get me if only I was faster and I defended myself some more. Gave some kind of wanting, but that warrior came out of nowhere. It almost made me feel defeated as I was looking all around to get some kind of idea as to what I needed to do.

I couldn't give up, I had to do something.

I turned on my heel already seeing something else in front of me. Almost like I was experiencing some kind of vision and having some kind of out of body experience. It was in some kind of chamber, white all over and cold. It was bright compared to where I was locked up in, having me cringe a bit now to see that this place was bigger, bigger with too much space and too much space. One side of the wall had a shelf, having me see that my saber, my father's blaster, Chewie's weapon harness, and his crossbow blaster were being held there. They were confiscated, and it made me worry. I was frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do.

Was I pulled into this vision?

One of the main doors opened, having me turn over to the left to see none other than Ben walking into the quarters, looking out of it and almost like he just lost his own breath. Maybe he could see me, maybe he couldn't. I didn't move an inch now as He was now pacing around the room, his cape flowing behind him hanging heavy off his shoulders onto the floor, his gloved hands were making fists at his sides. But the one thing that got me was his face, mostly his eyes. They looked glazed off, almost off-center and confused.

Mostly, he looked lost.

I wasn't seen since he wasn't showing any sign that he knew I was in the room. Maybe this was my doing, going to find my brother and see where he was, but now I was scared to see Ben like his. The medium-sized scar on his face, over his cheek and eye, was visible against his pale skin and jet black hair. He stopped in front of something that was placed on a display mound. It was black, misshapen and broken all over now as I walked over, still going on with the assumption that he couldn't see me. His hands were on either side of the surface, peering down at what was on the top as I looked too.

It was a misshapen mask.

"Sir," a voice came overhead now, Ben snapping up and still staring at the mask, "We have the prisoner in our quarters on our secondary ship, about to board."

"Is she still alive?" Ben asked, his voice low and almost wavering with anger. I watched his face carefully, almost afraid if he was going to burst. Who was he talking about?

"As you ordered, sir." The voice replied, "General Pryde has her in a seclusion cell."

"Seclusion cell?" Ben asked, his voice raising slightly now, there was a pause in the air.

"His orders, sir. He finds her to be a tool to find the others who are with the scavenger," The voice informed him. Now I knew: they were talking about me and how they captured me. Why would Ben react like this? Ben gripped the edge sharply now, a tug was puling me to touch his cape at least. I raised both of my hands that were still confined, reach over to where his arm was and I rested my fingers there.

His anger was sensed all over, and the instinctual part of me wanted to stop that anger and pain he was feeling and try to soothe it instead. I knew there was darkness still there, but there was also light. A shift happened in him, I felt it and he might have felt it too. It was there, it was just a matter of finding how to help him see.

Once I touched his arm, he froze.

I felt like I broke the silence, but I wanted to keep my hand there. Ben was broken, I couldn't see all of the hate that used to be there some time ago when I realized he was alive. He was softer now, his senses were at least and they were puzzling too. I closed my eyes there, trying to find a way to send something soothing to my brother. I wanted him to feel it, to feel that I wanted my brother safe and sound. Ben was still the Ben I knew, and I wanted him back. More than anything.

I opened my eyes as he walked away, leaving there alone one more time now as he was walking over to the doors were he entered back moments before.

"If anything happens to her on that ship, whoever inflicts pain on her will answer to me personally," Ben said to the person on the speaker.

"Yes sir," The voice responded quickly as Ben left the room and I blinked, going back to the present where I was back in the seclusion chamber. It was somber now since I knew I was so close to my brother seeing him conflicted, and yet far away from my friends.

I sat down on the floor, once against engulfed with the cold of the room now as I was crossing my legs and placing my handcuffed hands in my lap. If there was another person that could try to connect with, it had to be Rey. I had to at least try to connect with her and have her sense that I was alive.

So I breathed out slowly, closing my eyes and started to channel her. it was like I was in my X-wing going with our light speed and finding the right spot and the spot Force sensations hat only belong to Rey. Searching through the Force that was all around me: within the walls, pushing farther out into the Destroyer itself, and then pausing even farther out into space. It was always a push, a crawl the was slowing getting harder and harder, almost giving me some kind of pain from not pushing hard enough. But I kept going, I kept searching for the Force waves that I knew only belonged to Rey.

"Rey…where are you Rey…" I said to myself now, small enough not to let anyone who was walking by hear me. But then, I felt a rhythm from her, it was small but I knew it was her. I pushed a bit harder, feeling the rhythm get bigger and bolder. I then threw my eyes open.

"Rey."

She was on a planet very close, and she was there with Finn, Poe, 3PO, and BB-8. It was soothing and a relief to see them there, all of them, okay and all of them alive. I could see her briefly, the planet was cold, beyond cold and there was snow falling, but I pushed to connect with her.

_"Neyli…Neyli!"_

"Rey…you 're okay!"

We were speaking to each other within our minds as I did with Ben a few times before. But her energy was almost shattered as if she went through some time of trauma.

_"We thought of the worst! Where are you?"_

"I'm safe…I'm on a destroyer."

_"We'll find you Neyli."_

_"Let Poe know…"_

_"Neyli…I will."_

I opened my eyes again, already thinking of a game plan in my head. If they were going to try and find me, it wasn't right for me to just stay in here and wait for them to come to me first. The adrenaline was rushing through me now as I got up from my spot on the floor, walking over to the locked door. There was a narrow hallway, other cells were seen but it seemed like I was the only prisoner there. I looked around, not hearing anything or anyone else close by.

I needed a Stormtrooper.

I looked back behind me, trying to find something that I could use to make some kind of noise. Along the walls, somewhere in the corner of the floor, anywhere as I then found that seemed to be small pieces of scrap metal that were pushed against the wall. I walked over, crouching down to grab the piece and then going back to the small opening that was there. With some small maneuvering, I got my two hands up to the level of the opening, throwing the scrape on the floor.

It banged, bouncing for a small moment as I retracted my hands. Moving away from the floor slightly, I could hear someone walking over, the clanking of the Stormtrooper uniform coming closer and close. I rolled my shoulders, making sure I knew what I was about to do and how I was going to get it done.

"What's going on down here?" It was a stormtrooper, and as soon as I saw him through the slanted opening, I held out one hand in front of me and focused. I did one small wave with my fingers right in front of his eyesight.

"You'll freeze right where you are."

The Stormtrooper froze his hand with the gun going slack as it hung at his side and he looked dead ahead. I was focusing all of my channeling of the Force right on telling him what to do and moving him in my favor.

"I'll freeze where I am." He repeated, monotone.

"You'll release me from this cell and these shackles," I commanded softly, seeing him walk over to tap a few buttons at the side of the door. I saw the door opened easily and he then walked inside to undo the shackles.

"I'll release you from the cell and these shackles," He repeated, my wrists finally being free and I twisted them around a few times, thinking fo what I needed to do next. There had to be another prisoner holding area, maybe Chewie was there since he was captured before I was.

"You'll take me to the Resistance prisoner," I explained with a wave of my hand, seeing him turn on his heels and start to walk.

"I'll take you to the Resistance prisoner," he parroted back, having me follow close by him. So far, so good, and at this rate, I had more of a chance to find Chewie and at least get the both of us to safety. I was more exposed now, and with no weapon on hand for me to have and use, I had to be beyond careful.

Being as quiet as I could, I followed closely behind my dazed Stormtrooper, going down a few hallways to the left and then to the right. There was no one else around, which could be a very good thing or a very very bad thing.

After a few more minutes, we made it another prisoner ward, these cells were a bit bigger now compared to where I was. As soon as we were in the main hallway and we made the turn in, two more Stormtroopers were there and they instantly saw me. It made me snap into action real quick. I moved out of the way from behind my Stormtrooper and I waved my hand in front of both of them.

"Go to sleep."

They both collapsed to the floor, having me hear the familiar growl and grumbling from Chewie.

"Chewie! Hang on, buddy!" I said in relief as I ran over and grabbed a blaster from one of the unconscious Stromtrooper. As soon as I held it though, I heard the first Stormtrooper that I had under my spell mutter.

"What happened—" without looking, I aimed the blast right behind me and shot the stormtrooper. He collapsed to the ground as I looked around each of the cells.

"Where are you?" I asked, hearing him on my left. I jogged over, seeing through the window he was there and I grinned at him. He grumbled at me.

"I know, we're busting out of here. Stand back," I said to him, seeing him shuffle back a bit as I aimed the blaster at the keypad on the right side. With one pull, the blaster opened the door and Chewie came out, in his cuffs. I placed the blaster under my arm and took the cuffs in my hands, tinkering it to open and get Chewie free. Chewie muttered.

"Rey and the others are close, I can feel it. They're coming for us," I explained, finally opening the cuffs with ease and having Chewie be free, "For now, let's find a way to get off this ship and get to the others."

Chewie nodded in agreement, the both of us now armed with blasters going back out to the main hallway now, aiming our blaster right in front of us in case something could happen. I had to think, think of a way to at least get to a hanger of some sort and then I can get us on a vehicle off of the ship. I wished I had my saber with me, I would have had a leg up and an advantage.

_"Medallion's good…Clear for entrance into hanger 12…"_ I stopped for a brief moment placing my hand on the wall to support me because that voice threw me off. Hearing Poe's voice in my head, his real voice. How could I hear that from him since I never heard him speak in my head before? I wondered if he was close to Rey. I missed his voice, given where we were and how scared I was that I wasn't going to see him again, just hearing his alone was enough to have me keep going

Speaking of which.

_"Hang on, Neyli. We're coming for you."_

"The prisoners!" I snapped out of it as three stormtroopers saw us. We both split off and hid behind some beams as they started to fire at us. Chewie and I shot back, I got one instantly as Chewie got the second one down. The third one was clipped in the air, in which I ran down the hallway over to him and knocked him out with a smack of the grin across his helmet.

So far so good.

"Come on, Chewie," I said to him, hearing in run after me as we turned the corner and went down another hallway, trying as best as we can to stay alive. We were getting closer and closer to the hanger, going down further and farther in the belly of the ship.

We were approaching another intersection of hallways, we both ducked out of the hallway as two more stormtroopers were talking to each other.

"He's coming back. We need to be alert for the Resistance scum on the ship," One of them explained to the other, having em feel a small twinge of hope in my chest as they walked off. I looked behind me at Chewie.

"They must be on the ship," I said to him with hope in my voice, Chewie grumbled in agreement, looking up past me now as I looked back too. Another stormtrooper was aiming right at us now within a second. Chewie pushed me last against the wall and shot once, getting him square in the eye sand he fell over. I sighed, shocked by the instant death. I looked up slowly at Chewie.

"Thanks," I said in relief, seeing him nod and we both went on. dodging out fo sight at the right moments and then weaving closer. The closer we were getting, the hard it was for us to get somewhere safe and secure. We were taking a risk, but all of this was a risk, to begin with.

"An unmarked ship is in hanger 12. Find them!" I heard what seemed to be an officer bark out, having both of us freeze and re-think what we have to do and where to go.

"Where do we go from here, Chewie?" I asked, hearing him mutter a bit now as I looked over to the left, seeing no one there. I nod my head, thinking that too was a good idea. He was thinking we needed to find another way to get to the hanger, at least find a way to get there. We had to press on.

We were walking a bit faster now, hearing other stormtroopers marching to our left and right from other hallways and corridors, so we weren't in the clear just yet. We still had some time before we could at least get to any ship that we can get out of here from.

We tucked into another corner, ducking right out of the way just in time for an electrical stick. I dodged it right in time as Chewie took out another Stormtrooper within a second. I whirled and kicked the stormtrooper hard in the stomach, seeing him fall hard to the floor and roll out of the way from my seconds' attempt of a kick. Chewie was about to defend me when two more troopers were coming and he was now firing at them.

My trooper tried to stab me with the humming of the electricity at the end of the battering stick, but I dodged out of the way and slammed my foot on his arm to have it unarmed. He grunted as the stick fell out of his hands and I snagged it within the handle. There was one blast that was way too close to Chewie that made me cringe.

"Chewie!" I said in horror as I saw the trooper that shot the blast. He was down the other side of the hall, at least 40 feet away, in which I was afraid that I was about to lose Chewie before we got anywhere near success. I threw out my hand with The Force, seeing him fly back and slam against the hall and fall to the floor in a crumbling manner.

It was silent having me only hear the heavy breathing that I was producing, then the small movement below me from the stormtrooper. I saw him slowly get up, staggering a bit now as he was standing in front of me. If only he hadn't had his mask on so I could see what he looked like.

"Who are you?" He asked in a huff, my hold on the stick handle tightening now as I took out a deep breath.

"I'm a Jedi," I replied, rearing the stick back and whacking the trooper right cross the face hard with the stick. He fell to the ground in a heap, once again silence. I took in a deep breath, finally looking around the room for a brief moment. I locked my eyes on Chewie to see if he was okay, Chewie was looking at something else…or someone.

Down the hall, right in the middle of the hallway with a blaster drawn and a shocked look on his face, was Poe.

Finn was right behind him, his own blaster drawn too, but I was focused on Poe. His eyes were locked on me, his eyes were wide and almost in shock from seeing me alive and well. I didn't know if he was okay, I was beyond scared if something happened to them while I was stuck here for who knows how long.

"It took you long enough," I said in a groan as Poe threw his blaster in his holster on his thigh and he bolted over to me, Finn right behind him. Poe looked like he was on the verge of tears as he rang over and scooped me in his arms. The stick fell to the ground from my hand as I wrapped my arms around him and dug my head into his neck and shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," he said to me in a huff and with a wavy tone in his voice, "I thought you were long gone. We didn't know what happened, or where you went. I should have looked for you harder."

"I should have been more careful," I said to as I thought back to how I made it here and how it might have been foolish, "I thought I could help get Chewie, or help Rey but—"

"Hey," Poe said, pulling back to look at me. He pressed his lips over my own, holding it there and making me pulled away after a few moments, staring at him lovingly. Just looking at his face was home, the warmth in his eyes and how his hair was waved over from plenty of flying in the air. Since we met, since we spoke for the first time, and since we kissed under the Force Tree, he was home.

Poe was my home.

"I'm just glad you're alive and you're okay," he reassured me, cradling my face with his hands and being careful not to touch my sound with his fingers, "When Rey told me you were still alive...Neyli I was shocked and relieived. I don't know what I would have done if I lost you," I pressed my forehead, including my wound, against his and breathed him in, making sure I knew this was real and nothing was a trick.

"Hey, guys…" We both looked over, seeing Finn watch us now, "As much as this is great that we're back together, why don't we get out of here." I grinned at him, Chewie rumbling in agreement. Poe finally released me, standing next to me kissing the back of my hand now as I was giving him a look of concern.

"Where's Rey?" I asked them both.

"Off to find your stuff, and the dagger," Finn explained, having me nod as I reached down and grabbed one of the blasters on the floor. The four of us were huddled together when Poe pointed in the direction to where they were, "The Falcon's this way."

"They took the Falcon?" I asked in shock as I was following them down the hallway. Poe was leading the way with his blaster out and arm, followed by myself, Finn and Chewie.

"They grabbed it after we left in Ochi's ship," Poe explained to me as I grumbled.

"If they touch that thing.." I trailed off, hearing footsteps right in front of me. Stormtroopers turned the corner right in front of us, all of us firing and barreling them down one by one and pushing farther and further down the hallways. It felt like we were just not the cusp of getting to where we needed to go, and as Poe was going right into the middle of the larger intersection of hallways, Poe was shot right in the arm and he fell to the ground with a grunt on his lips.

"POE!" Finn said in fear.

Everything slowed down as we were shooting the troopers, having me see it all there at once and I instantly went with my gut. There was already the fear that he was long gone when I was captured, and now it was happening again. I slid down on my knees over to him, seeing Poe crutch over himself and grasp his arm in pain.

"Hey, hey you're okay," I reassured him as I grasped his warm, feeling him squint as Finn joined us and Chewie stood over us. Poe nodded his head at me before he looked past me and I looked too. We were surrounded now my Stormtroopers, at least 8 to 9 of them, guns out and loaded, and all around us as we were stuck right in the middle. I stayed close to Poe, still attached to his arm as he was blocking me with his other arm.

"Stop right there! Drop your weapons, now! Drop them!"

We all dropped out weapons and waited for one fo them to do something to us. Maybe now this was the worst-case scenario: we had no idea where Rey was, the First Order had the Millennium Falcon, and we still had no clue to get a hold of a Sith Wayfinder.

"Hey guys," Poe muttered aloud to the group.

"Shut up, Rebel Scum."

We were screwed.


	7. Chapter 7

"Move it,"

We were roughly escorted to one of the main platforms of the destroyers, flanked left and right by Stormtroopers and cuffed. Once again, I was in the clutches of the First Order with no idea what they were going to do to me. But this time, three others were there with me in this mess. Which was worse, way worse since we had no idea where Rey was, if the Falcon was still intact and if we were losing all hope in making this mission successful.

We were placed in front of two First Order officials, both of which were generals. The older one looked grave and menacing at the same time, and the younger one to his right looked more disgusted to see us.

"Allegiant General, the scavenger is not with them." One stormtrooper informed the older General. The General then looked his eyes at me, having me freeze up in my spot as he walked over to me slowly with his hands behind his back. He looked so poised, but I was waiting for him to do something out of the blue. Once he was close enough to me, he eyed me up and down. Poe moved over slightly, having me think that Poe was afraid of the General doing something to me.

"You're the one who escaped and killed at least ten of my men," He said cooly, having me tilt my head at him in defiance. The Solo part of me was coming out then, the cocky part that had no other reason to say a snarky remark in the worst time. But I was used to this: others of authority thinking they can tell me what to do or how to live, or just angry with me.

So I curled my upper lip and planted my feet.

"It was with no real difficulty," I commented back smoothly. He tilted his head at me slightly, instantly the stormtrooper right behind me reached out and entrapped my neck from behind with his fingers, gripped it hard and having me cry out in pain and almost fall over.

Chewie roared in retaliation, Finn shifted almost like he was about to move as he saw this with anger in his eyes. But Poe was the worst: he moved over to me and was snagged by the trooper by him.

"Hey!" Poe said struggling against the stormtrooper holding him, "Get your hands off of her!" I was looking up at the older General in anger now as the hold on my neck was getting worse and his look at me as sinister. They made me lower, both physically and almost mentally. However, I was still trying to stay at the same level.

"Be gracious that Kylo Ben still wants you alive and unharmed…and as I'm very tempted to make you suffer for the loss you brought to my men…I won't," he said to him in a harsher tone, looking up at the stormtroopers behind me and the others.

"This one is to remain alive," he explained, "But the others, taken them away. Terminate them," he was about to walk away when he looked at me one more time as the stormtrooper who was holding my neck yanked me back up to a standing position, "In fact, let this one watch. Let her see what we will ultimately do the rest of the Resistance."

I hastily looked over at Poe and Finn, seeing them look at each other in fear and then back at me. The color was draining from all of our faces since it felt like the last pieces and parts of our hope we're slipping away. Not only were we going to die away from the people we knew and I loved.

I was going to watch their death first hand.

* * *

They were placed in one of the TIE fighter hangers, I was placed to the side, three stormtroopers were holing guns, standing right behind Chewie, Poe, and Finn who were in a line and facing away from them. I could all three of them, looking dead ahead and having me see out of the corner of my eye the younger general looking a big smug from where he was.

I wanted to cry, feeling as though I was living in a nightmare that I wouldn't be able to wake up from. This was worse, and there was nothing for me to do for me to save them. I was shacked just like they were, and I knew that whatever I was about to go through was worse in comparison to them. Hell, at this point, I wish I could have been with them and executed next to them.

Anything better than this.

Poe looked over at me, being in the middle of Finn and Chewie as he gave me a knowing look. My heart was breaking seeing him there and on the verge of being murdered. He let out a shaky look now as he nodded his head at me once.

"Close your eyes, Neyli," Poe said to me almost in a pleading tone as the guns were warming up. I shook my head at him since it would feel wrong for me to just be helpless then.

"Actually, I'd like to do this myself," The young r general said next to the three stormtroopers. I cringed, hearing how his voice was cool and yet vengeful at the same time as if he was enjoying this far too much. Maybe he was, and this was the highlight of his career. I looked over at him, seeing him grab one of the bolsters there while I could hear Poe and Finn taking to each other.

"What were you going to tell Rey before?"

"You still on that?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is this a bad time?"

They were arguing, of all the times they had to do this, they chose to do this now. But while they were doing that, I focused my gaze at the General, seeing him shift and raise the blast right at the three of them, ready to shoot. I had no chance to stop this, and I was watching this all unfold.

Until The General shot the three stormtroopers in the back and that collapsed.

The stormtrooper behind me looked confused, having me duck my head to the side as a blast was close enough to get me but got the soldier instead. Finn, Poe, and Chewie ducked from the noise, thinking that they got hurt, but when they turned and looked at the General, I too was shocked.

"I'm the spy."

"WHAT?!" Poe exclaimed with a grin on his face.

"Wait…you?!" Finn asked in shock.

"We don't have much time," The general explained to us, though we were frozen from what just happened. I even pointed at him now with my tongue all tied up from not being able to say anything.

"I knew it!" Poe said in glee now as he pointed at him. The general walked over to me as Finn gave Poe and confused look.

"No, you did not." He commented. The general got my cuffs free, having me stare at him now with shock and almost fear since a second ago I thought he was going to kill my two friends and my fiancé.

"Thanks?" I asked, seeing him look at me now.

"Finish the mission: that's plenty enough for me," He replied, walking over to get the others free now as I walked to Poe. As soon as he was free, I hugged him tightly and sighed in relief.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Poe said to me in reassurance, having me nod in agreement as I hugged Finn and Chewie too.

"We need to hurry, they'll be figuring it out soon. Follow me," The General said to us as we were running after him, "The ship is this way in one of our main hangers."

"Let's go," Finn said in agreement. Poe laced our fingers together and we were running down the hallway, following the general. We were trusting him to take us in the right direction. This was all confusing now, and I was more worried about Rey and where she was.

"We need to find Rey," I reminded the others, "She could be in trouble."

"We'll find her when we get on the Falcon," Finn said in confidence. Knowing Rey, she was capable of finding us on her own. She had to be, I had to believe she was.

We were running over to the hangers, seeing a familiar and yet unsure site. C-3PO, BB-8 and one more dried coming our way down the hallway. C-3PO had all of our weapons within his mechanical arms, almost looking frantic if he could look like it on his face. BB-8 chirped in excitement and the third droid, a smaller one with one wheel and almost seemed perky, spoke up.

"Friend ahead."

"Oh yes, there they are!" 3PO said in a frenzy.

"BB-8 come on!" Poe said to his droid when the general opening the walkway out into the hanger with a few buttons on the console.

"I shut down the computers, you've got seconds!" He explained, both Chewie and I ran through and got into the walkway above the floor of the hanger. I grinned, seeing the Falcon there, parked and alone on the floor. Following Chewie, we got down to the main level and bolted over to the vessel, the ramp was down and ran inside. It was familiar, it was safe, and I was glad it was in once piece.

I got into the cockpit, head my headgear in and tapping the buttons and knobs to get our ship warming up. I heard feet fight behind me having me look over briefly to see Poe in the other seat with his headgear in.

"Let's get this ship in the air and find Rey," Poe said, mostly to himself now as I was getting some more the modifications ready.

"I'm already on it," I explained, placing my hand there on one of the panels and pausing. I could still hear the humming of the ship getting louder, and an odd sensation of something going on not too far away. Two Force senses were interacting with each other, almost like they were clashing to find dominance. I looked dead ahead in horror.

"Rey…Rey's with Ben," I said in fear, Poe looked at me in concern.

"How do you know?" Poe asked me, having me look at him in worry.

"I can feel it…I can feel them both… something's wrong," I answered, seeing him then reach over to place his hand on opt of my own that was waiting at the panel. It was a soothing touch, the grime, and some blood was stained there from our recent encounter, and my hand was covered in blood and grease.

Our fingers were laced gently this time, there was no adrenaline or force behind it. This time it felt like a moment in time that was frozen, even with the ship ready to take off and our taste of freedom from this place was far too close to waste.

"Let's get Rey," He said to me in confidence, having me pause. Should I tell him then, how my feelings towards my brother were different from before? Was her under the assumption that I got hurt from Ben or the others. What was he going to think if I told him? I should tell him, but then again where we were in the current moment, it was not now.

Not yet.

"You're right," I said, shaking off the feeling as I tapped a few more things on the console and then felt the ship roar to life. I got the ship to lift and rotate in the hanger, facing out into the opening of the sky. I cracked my neck, getting my hands on the handle and fixing myself in m current mood of being a pilot.

Once we were out of the hanger and in the air, we were levitating there for a moment or two now trying to find a way we can get to Rey and make sure that she was safe and sound. I felt as though I needed to help, way more than just flying the ship.

"We can get her on the ship without getting in the hanger," I explained to Poe, taping a few more things on the console and we were frozen there in the air and I thought about it some more, "She'll need some backup."

"That we can do," Poe said to me with his pilot voice back on and running. I grinned, taping one more thing on the console as I got up and placed the headgear on the seat, "Wait, where are you going?"

"I'm the backup," I replied, and before I could hear him say anything else, I walked out of the cockpit and through the ship with a pep in my step. The droids were all huddled in the chess room, having em feel Poe moving the ship slowly. The bundle of weapons that C-3PO brought with him. It was in a pile there on the chess table counter, having me reach out with my dominant hand and summon my saber from among the pile. The saber flew it and into my hand within a second, having me smirk now as I pressed on. Finally, I made it over to the ramp, seeing Finn place on an oxygen mask over his face and the pack on his hip.

I grabbed the second one, getting it ready over my mouth now and turning on the oxygen as Fin pointed to me, "You're coming with me."

"Of course I am," I replied, "Rey's my friend too." Finn grinned at me from behind his mask, having me walk over to place my hand on his shoulder, "Just so you know, whatever you're feeling….I can feel it too."

He gave me an unknowing look, but deep down I knew he knew what I meant. It was clear with the undertone, and he could sense it too. We both agreed to leave it at that, and once we felt the falcon move into the right spot where we would get Rey, I placed my hand right on the control that would lower the ramp.

"Finn, Neyli, move fast!" Poe called to us from the cockpit. I slammed my hand on the button, the ramp lowering slowly and we got a burst of air coming through. I held one hand on the beam as Finn walked down a bit, both of our masks on and in use as we saw the Destroyer right in front of us and the hanger with Ochi's ship. Stormtroopers were being launched back by the thrusters Poe used by the Falcon, but two people stayed intact.

Rey and Ben.

Rey was standing right at the edge of the hanger, Ben was closer inside and crouched down to stay still from the power of the thrusters. His dark cloak whipping in the wind, his face solely on Rey now as Rey looked over at us.

"Rey! Come on!" Finn called out to her, waving his arm at her now as I stood still, watching my brother. I knew there had to be another time for both of us to connect and try to reason, but right now I was focused on Rey and finishing our mission. Rey looked back at Ben, both of them staring each other down now as I gripped my saber. Rey turned and rang over to us, Ben then looking right at me now as I lit my saber to show where I stood.

Ben saw it, and I saw him stare directly at me now while Rey jumped miraculously onto our ramp from the space between. Finn grabbed her arm, helping her on her feet as the ramp was slowly coming up to bring us back into the ship. I sighed in relief, not seeing my brother anymore, and yet the last thing I saw on his face was determination. Maybe it was Rey, or maybe it was me. But the tension between us was now thicker than ever and almost foreboding.

Finn and Rey walked up the ramp while I stood there, in the darkness and still clutching the ramp beam and taking in a shaky breath. All that happened on that Destroyer, being a captive because of my brother to lower the others in, almost seeing Poe and the others executed in front of my own eyes, and now Ben looking at me as his heart seemed to be breaking, it was too much.

I closed my eyes, trying to control my breath now as I tried to level my head. I needed rest, and yet there was no time to rest. My head was still hurting from the wound, my body was aching and yet running on a darn aline high simultaneously, and my brother was close yet so far.

**Neyli….you don't understand.**

I cringed with my eyes closed, opening my eyes and finding myself in Ben's quarters once more, back on the destroyer. He was standing there, looking right at me on shaky ground with fatigue and pain. I watched him, knowing that he connected with me to talk. I don't know what I wanted to talk about with him, and yet I was beyond tired to do something like this.

"I think I do, Ben. Kidnapping me and using me as bait…even for you that's a bit low." I said to him in a murmur now, watching him eye me and how he too looked flushed from all that happened.

"I needed Rey, to tell her the truth." He started to explain, but I shook my head.

"You almost killed her, almost got all of us killed." I retorted back to him, my voice sounding harsher now since it felt like he was making no sense of this as to why Rey was so important.

"She knows the truth now," Ben responded.

"What truth are you talking about?" I questioned, seeing him shake his head at me.

"I can't tell you," He answered, in which I was getting angrier now with him.

"And where do I stand with you and your plans? A pawn? You were never one with me," I explained, pointing to him now and I tried to walk, almost faltering a bit since the energy that I thought I had left was drawing me faster. I stumbled slightly, almost tripping over myself but staying on my feet.

When I did this, however, Ben moved with his arms out as if to catch me. He looked concerned from seeing me like this, having me still keep my distance from him. I eyed him, seeing him look at me with a hint of worry etched on his face.

"Don't…" I waned, waving him off now as I tried to breathe out through my nose. It was like I hurt him with my words, almost like I punched him in the gut now as he found his voice after a few moments.

"I never wanted you involved with this," He explained, my hands resting on my knees to gather some more strength now as I eyed him, "This whole plan…you were never meant to be involved. He wanted me to…"

I slowly rose, looking at him dead on in the eyes and my stance was rigid once more. I breathed out slowly and I gave him a determined and yet angry look.

"Who?" I asked slowly, almost like I caught him in a trap. He said nothing know, having me more irritated now. He said nothing, thinking to himself now in his head as he looked at me with fear on his face. Whatever he told Rey, whoever this person was that wanted me in the middle of this whole ordeal, it was wanting to burst out of him and be free. But he was still holding it in.

"Ben," I pleaded, almost in a wheeze, since it felt like I was going to pass out cold "Tell me…please,"

It was a moment of silence, having me see more conflict and pain on his face. It was hard for me since I was both angry with him and yet wanting to take away any pain that was making him this way. I could feel the conflict, the uneasiness and the loss of control within him, but all he could do as give me one look that I felt like I haven't seen in years. Not since we were younger and training to be Jedis together.

It was a secret kind of look.

"I'm sorry,"

I snapped back to the reality of being in the Millennium Falcon, having me fall to the floor and almost keel over with no more energy left in me. I was wiping me out, and being connected to Ben was the last bit of energy I had left. I felt myself slowly slipping, having me hear someone walking over to the opening of the ramp where I was.

"Hey, Neyli…" It was Poe, and I looked up at him on my hands and knees with a glisten over my eyes. His eyes went wide in fear and panic, rushing over to get on his knees next to me and wrap his arms around my shoulder to keep me up, "What the Hell. Hey, you alright? Here, I got ya, I got ya."

"I…I can't…." I tried to say, but my voice was so soft and my head was reeling. Poe rubbed my arms, saying nothing for a moment before he found his voice.

"You need to lay down and rest, come on," He said to me as he helped hoist me up to stand up on my feet. I arm went over his shoulder and he held my hand there, his other arm was around my waist to keep me upright as we walked slowly.

"Who's flying?" I asked in a hoarse tone, resting my head on his shoulder.

"Chewie is," Poe explained as he was guiding me to my dad's old sleeping quarters, "Finn and Rey are trying to fix the landing gear."

"It's broken…" I trailed off.

"Don't ask," He replied in a grumble, having me stop the both of us and stare at him dead in the eye.

'What about you?" I asked softly, seeing him give me a small smile and scoot a bit closer to me now as we were standing there in the chess room.

"I don't know about you, but I'm gonna take care of you since you look terrible," He explained, having me roll my eyes at him.

"Thanks," I said, seeing him chuckle as he then got serious one more time.

"You went through a lot, too much for me to deal with. Besides, we have a lot to catch up on," He said, having me nod my head and we both walked on. I felt like it was time for us to be clean with all that was happening and what I just went through with Ben. I never wanted to keep something from Poe, not since the beginning since we've been honest with everything. This can't be different, though it was bigger than any of us imagined.

He had to know the truth.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author Note: **I wanted to add in a snipet of Poe and Neyli talking, and thne we'll get back to the action! Thanks once again for the support in this story!

* * *

"Hold still."

"I am holding still,"

"You are not. You're fidgety." Poe gave me a look as I was getting his batter wound cleaned upon his arm. We were alone in my dad's old quarters, and after clearing my face with all the blood and dirt, Poe got my head wound cleaned out with bandage over it. Rey and Finn were guiding our Falcon to the coordinates that they received from 3PO, Chewie was trying to repair the ship, which left both of us to have some alone time.

It was soothing to get my head back into focus and no longer in pain, but I was still heavy with all that happened on that Destroyer. Needing to let me be exposed and out in the open was the best thing to do, I was more worried about how Poe was going to react.

"You're almost done anyways," I commented, seeing him look down at his blaster in his other hand as I was wrapping the arm carefully with the blue scarf he had on around his neck. He seemed out of his now mind then, thinking so far away from me as I tied the wound off, "There. You're all better."

"Another scar to add to the library," He muttered, having me watch him. We were sitting side by side on my bed, I was sitting with my legs crossed and Poe was leaning against the wall with his head against it. I could tell he was exhausted, we all were. He placed his blaster on the side of his leg, right on top of my bed as he took in a long breath of relief.

"So what happened, after we split up?" I asked him as I drew a leg up to rest my chin on the top of the knees, watching him carefully now as he sat up a bit on the bed, rubbing his eyes.

"I found a way we could get the information from 3PO," He started to explain, "We had to hack his protocol in his programming restrictions, and I knew someone who could do that under the table,"

"A hacker?" I asked.

"Sort of, a crew I used to work with way back had someone that could do it. So, we went to Kijimi." Poe explained, both of us looking at each other. I raised my eyebrow at him now since he was telling me something brand new about it, some juicy information.

"You were on a crew…" I trailed off, seeing him look at him now with almost intrigue while he stammered a bit and tried to explain.

"It was before I came to the Resistance I was with a crew, doing small stuff and here there," He explained, though I grinned at him with my tired face.

"A crew, huh?" I asked, almost teasing, seeing him raise his won eyebrow at me now.

"You're gonna tease about this, right now?" He asked, not amused, and yet I shrugged.

"It's a little amusing if you think about….trying to picture the perfect flyboy being part of a crew and doing odd jobs…I can picture it all in my head," I teased lightly, seeing him chuckle very lightly before I went quiet, reaching over to grab his hand, "Go on, Poe."

"We found our guy, Babu Frik. And…I also ran into another old friend from the crew. Her name's Zorii Bliss, and we….didn't end things on the right note when I left the crew to enlist in the Resistance," He explained, though when he mentioned this Zorii person, he froze up. Almost like he was afraid to mention this person, and yet I was posed and quiet about it. I was calmer than anything, and yet his face was showing me was beyond prettified.

"So…I take it you got the coordinates," I trailed off, showing that I wanted him to go on with what he was telling me. Poe gulped, maybe he thought I was lower him into some kind of trap for how cool and calm I was being.

"For us to get the coordinates we had to wipe 3PO's memory…and after that, we got what we need…." Poe paused, squeezing our hands together now as he searched my eyes, "You know, I was hoping that you would be angry, or talk about…or anything. You're quiet…why are you quiet?" He was rambling and almost saying at a fast pace as I placed my hand up to silence him. Immediately he was quiet, waiting for me to at least start yelling at him.

"Poe," I said to him, "The only thing that I'm surprised with all of this…is that you were part of a crew before we met…..and you didn't want to tell me about that part of your life," I admitted to him, seeing him think to himself now as he was looking down at our joined hands. He never told me a whole lot before he came to the Resistance, only a few things about his family. Maybe there was a reason for it, and he would tell that the past didn't matter to him.

"To be honest I didn't want you to see me differently, knowing that I worked with a crew as a splice runner," Poe answered as I rubbed my thumb against his skin on his hand, "I never told anyone about it. It was a different life that I didn't want to bring back."

"Why not?" I asked, pressing him gently about it. With his head leaned back, his eyes poured into mine and I saw the softness there once again.

"Because I liked you," He admitted to me, having me look at him a bit shocked now, seeing him pause for a brief second before he went on, "You were the first real friend I met at the base, and I instantly liked you. Not because of who your parents were, but because of who you were. Plus. you caught my attention when you clotheslined that one guy in the cafeteria when he gave you hell."

We both knew why we liked each other, we both came into our feelings with each other naturally and without the help of others. I was still amazed, from time to time, that Poe was interested in me from the beginning, let alone still being with me and loving me. I felt like I was too ordinary for him, nothing shocking about me and in how I was as a pilot.

Things were always amazing us constantly.

"Good thing I liked you too, after you complimented my clothesline," I commented back, seeing him crinkles his eyes with a smile as we both grinned at each other. It was a nice light moment, though it died down when Poe cleared his throat and looked at my head wound with his careful warm eyes.

"I honestly thought you were dead," He confessed to me, having me ouse there and watch him now as he was searching my gaze with his own, "For a split second, I tried to think of how I was going to finish this whole mission without you with us."

"I'm so sorry," I apologized to him, it felt like the right thing for me to say, "The last thing I wanted to do to you, to anyone, was to worry and think the worst."

"I know," he reassured me as he placed his other hand on top of our joined ones, patting it gently, "But Rey felt…she felt you. She told me you were alive, and I believed her. How could she….feel you?"

"The Force," I answered simply with a shrug of my shoulders since it was so simple. Poe thought about it, almost hurting his own brain from trying to figure it all out now as I leaned my head against the wall to be next to him, "It's how I felt My Uncle Luke when he passed away, when I felt my mother, how I feel Ben."

"You feel your brother?" Poe asked, having me nod my head.

"It's more of a connection than a feeling. My connection with him's been stronger now that we know that we're both alive. But he's broken…he's afraid and broken now." It felt off that I should talk to Poe about my brother since my brother inflicted pain on Poe when Poe was on Jakku. I knew where my brother's loyalties were with at the time, then again I didn't know he was my brother.

"Listen…Neyli…" Poe started, almost faltering on his words now as I was thinking more about my brother, "I don't know how it is with you and your brother….but he's done some bad things."

"I know," I said in agreement, "And I know there's darkness in him. More than there should be," I looked directly at him in the eyes with seriousness and confirmation, "But there's also light in him. I can feel that there is, and my brother's in there with the light—"

"Neyli," Poe stooped me, placing his hand on my neck to have me focus on him, "I'm more concerned about what he could do to you." I looked at him in confusion now, sitting up a bit straighter as I was tilted my head at him.

"Ben never wanted to hurt me," I reassured him, slowly, seeing him not say anything now as I pointed my hand at him, "You think he's gonna kill me?"

"No, but I think he's far more capable of bad than good," Poe answered, using his words carefully and wisely. I said nothing, looking dead ahead now since it felt like I was conflicted. I knew where Poe was coming from, but I also know what I was feeling when I interacted with my brother myself.

It was a line right down the middle, and it felt like I had to choose one side.

"You don't trust me trying to help him?" I asked, not looking at him anymore as I didn't like how this conversation was going between the both of us. At first, he didn't say anything as I looked back at him, "I know what he did to you, I saw it with my own two eyes. The hate that I felt for what he did to you was there. I know who he killed and how he didn't blink once. But Poe, I also know my brother. He's there. I've seen him and I know he is. If I can help bring him back to the light….I need to try."

"I can't…I don't…." Poe tried to argue with me and find the right words, but I knew what he was trying to say. I nodded my head, silently agreeing with him as if we were reading each other's minds.

"Poe," I said his name carefully and softly, "I can take care of myself with him. Do you believe me?" It was a big jump for me to do, to reassure Poe that I could handle myself with Ben and know what to do.

"It's different for me since I thought I lost you at least once before, and you're asking me to let you…" Poe started.

"To trust me." I ended for him, "I wouldn't do this if I didn't think I could."

I knew that I could do it, there was no hesitation since I felt it being so close. Ben was there, I knew I could get him fully to the light and make things right. All I needed was the push to go through with it, and yet the confidence and the trust was there. The last thing I needed too was support and back up.

"You said you were going to marry me after all of this is over," Poe reminded me, having me see him eye me now as he used to. I gave him a knowing look back. There was no way I was going to let Poe go, not with what we went through and how far we've come. We've done battles together before, the missions that were chaotic and crazy. But now that the Resistance was hanging in the balance and all of us friends were relying on us, I knew where my loyalties lie.

"And I don't intend to break that promise to you," I agreed with the breath, I leaned over to be close enough to count the lashes on his cheeks, feeling his hold on my hand tighten slightly from how I moved. I knew that we were missing out on a moment with just the both of us, and how I craved it

"You better not," Poe said back in a low tone, almost in a tease, having me grin at him since it felt like we both knew that we were alone and no one was going to disturb us.

"What'll you do about it, Dameron?" I teased, seeing him grin slyly. He leaned over to kiss me, holding it there and having me breathe out through my nose. In all the places for us to kiss, it had to be in the Falcon, both of us beaten up and damaged, but we didn't care. Neither of us did.

The moment was there, and I was going to take it.

I pressed kiss after kiss to him, keeping it gentle and almost bold as we were in our moment. His hand on my neck fanned out the fingers against my skin, cradling me carefully as I placed one hadn't on his shirt to hold him there and other on his neck. His spare hand that was holding my hand wrapped around my waist and it felt like we were moving along a bit faster, not too fast, but it felt like it was going somewhere. I felt his tongue barely, having me barely moan in response now.

Man, did I love this man.

Of course, it came to a screeching halt when we heard a familiar droid outside of the quarters.

"Master Solo! Master Finn wanted me to inform you we are approaching our destination!"

Poe pulled away in utter annoyance, looking at the door with his glare now as he was still holding me in his embrace. I had to laugh and hide my face in his hair now as he pointed to the door.

"Swear to God, I'm gonna find that off switch!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Planet Kef Bir**

The landing was terrible. Yet we were all okay. Ironic

I looked at the outside of the ship when we landed on the surface. It as almost half-buried in the dirt and rubble, my hand son my hips and I face looking grimaced slightly from the sight that was in front of me. Of course, luck was running out, at least on our side. This would take some work and I felt Poe place a hand on my shoulder.

'We'll fix her up," he reassured me, having me slowly nod in agreement, "Rey and Finn are heading out to find the Wayfinder. Let's catch up with them."

"Okay," I said in almost mutter, feeling Poe's hand on my lower back and guiding me to follow the others who a bit farther up from us now on top of a shallow hill. We trekked through the tall grass, finally getting to the top of the hill and standing there with the others in our group. I looked in front of us, seeing a massive ocean with roaring waves that still beyond thirty feet high into the air, but something else was there beyond the ocean, hallways up and stick there almost permanently.

A Death Star.

"What is that?" The smaller droid asked BB-8 right behind us.

"The Death Star. This is a bad place, from an old war," Rey explained from standing in front of all of us with a firm stance and her eyes right on the fallen weapon. I never saw myself, but the massive size and the damage it looked like it went through was convincing enough for me to have me know too that real and things happened here.

"It's gonna take us years to find what we're looking for," Poe said almost in a bitter realization.

"Oh, dear!" 3PO said in sorrow. Rey looked down, saying something to herself as we were all thinking of what we were going to do now. She reached into the bag attached to her and pulled out the dagger looking at it from side to side as touched it with her fingers. Suddenly, she pulled at one of the ends, another small part of the dagger curved it and showing an arc. She held it up in front of her view, looking right at the Death Star. Finn, Poe, and I walked over to stand behind her, seeing her scan the wreckage by looking through the gap int the curve. No one knew what it was at first, but then it clicked.

It was a map.

"The Wayfinder's there," Rey said as she stopped the dagger in a certain spot, seeing where it was going to lead her. We then heard someone approaching, more than one. I looked around and I got my saber in my hands, seeing what looked like a herd of beasts coming our way and people riding the top of them.

"Head's up," I warned them, having my saber out and ready to use. The others got out their blaster, excluding Rey who was still holding the dagger. The people stopped a bit away from us and we're looking at us more in curiosity than intimidation, that that didn't stop us from aiming and being ready in case they chose a different path. The leader, a young woman almost around my age, looking right at me now since I was in front with the others.

"Rough landing," She said to me, Poe coming up behind me and holding out his blaster with his good arm.

"I've seen worse," I said to her calmly as I gripped the handle of my saber.

"I've seen better," She replied just as quick. She briefly looked down at my saber that was humming and out, almost analyzing it herself before she spoke again, "Are you Resistance?"

"That depends," Poe answered behind me.

"We picked up a transmission from someone named Babu Frick," She explained, 3PO perking up behind us.

"Babu Frick! Oh, he's one of my oldest friends!" 3PO said in glee, having me look back at Poe in confusion and was about to ask what that meant. Finn cleared his throat and pointed to his head, having me remember: the memory wipe.

"He said you'd come. He said you were the last hope," The woman said, looking mostly to Rey as We were lowering our weapons slowly no, no longer seeing them as a threat.

"We have to get to that wreck." Rey explained with a motion of her head to the Death Star remains in the ocean, "There's something inside there we need."

"I can take you there by water," The woman answered, and yet Finn looked skeptical.

"You've seen the water?" Finn asked with his blaster pointing to the massive waves.

"Not now. Too dangerous," The woman reassured Finn, "We go first light tomorrow."

"We can't wait that long,' Rey started to argue, taking a step towards them, "We don't have the time." We all looked at her, having me see that she was wanting so and to go out there and get the Wayfinder. But I was agreeing with the woman on this one: we had to wait until we could be safe.

"What's our other choice?" Poe asked her with a shrug of his shoulders,"Let's get that ship fixed. You have any spare parts?" He placed his blaster in his holster as he walked over to the group.

"Some, I'm Janna," The woman introduced herself to Poe now.

"Poe," Poe said to her. I shielded by saber and clipped it back to my holster too about to walk and follow Poe when Rey took a step to me. I could see the concern on her face since we weren't going to the Death Star right away.

"Neyli.." She said almost desperately, having me stop and look at her, "We can't wait! Time is not on our side and we could lose if we wait." I paused, looking over at the ocean. These waves were like giants, if we ever tried to get ourselves out there in one piece, we would be lost.

"I'd rather lose time and take a risk, Rey," I advised her, seeing her look at me almost in disappointment," A risk….now and this far gone…is worse." I could see her think about, the etch of frustration was still on her face and anger was there, deeply rooted now as I raised my eyebrow at her, "What angers you?"

I didn't know what happened to specifically between Rey and Ben, but I knew there was something that was passed onto Rey when we went to get her from the Destroyer. There had to have been something quite big, since her own Force energy that used to be strong and bold, not to mention good, now was still good, but chaotic. Things were fizzling under her skin, things were becoming less stable. But she was angry.

She turned on her heel and walked away from me, having me watch her in sadness now as she walked off and BB-8 reluctantly rolled off to follow her. She was going off on her own and it made me frightened that I had no idea what was going on.

"Rey!" I called, seeing her still walk on and I hung my hands at my side. This was tougher than I thought: too many things happening at once that it was almost making me dizzy. With nothing else for me to do that would make me feel better about this, I finally followed Poe over to the Falcon and help get the ship all repaired.

* * *

"Let's get this back online," I said to myself mostly as Chewie was right behind me helping me with some of the wirings in the hallway. It was frustrating that we were always one step forward and then three steps back, and now time was not on our hands. Of course, Rey didn't want to lose time for us to get the Wayfinder, even if it meant getting herself in danger. We didn't know where she went, but I was hoping that she was alright.

"Neyli," I looked over to see Finn walking over to me now, looking a bit worried as we were there in the hallway, "I need your help." I saw Chewie grumble to me, saying that he was going to help Poe and 3PO in the cockpit. I nodded at Chewie as he walked off, focusing back on Finn.

"You need to find a part?" I asked as I dusted off my hands on my pants to get the grease off the skin.

"No, Janna has it covered. I need to tell you about…." Finn froze, not finding the right words as I looked at him carefully. I gave him a small look of acknowledgment.

"The Force?" I asked him, seeing the small amount of light sparking from behind his eyes when I mentioned it, "You're Force Sensitive."

Finn looked shocked, pointing at me with his gloved finger as it seemed like I caught him in some kind of trap.

"You knew?" He asked, having me nod my head and give him a small smile.

"Of course I did," I replied smoothly, "I've known pretty much since I met you,"

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asked, not sounding mad but curious.

"Well it's not something you bring up in casual conversation, let alone in the middle of a war," I admitted, "But I had a feeling you were Sensitive. It's something you feel when others are Sensitive too, a wave of energy from each person and being that different. Kind of like a fingerprint."

"Oh," Finn said in amazement now as I eyed him up and down.

"Your energy is strong," I explained, seeing Finn look down at himself now, "It's like a strong heartbeat that is getting stronger and stronger since you joined the Resistance." I paused, seeing him still reeling from what I told him, "Tell me, Finn, what do you feel when you're with me?"

He said nothing now, having me know that he was trying to think about it himself and search within himself to feel out my emotions and energy. It was hard if you weren't trained, but not possible.

"You're warm," He said, almost faltering when he said it as I chuckled from how he said it, "No! I'm sorry…I meant…you have warm energy and it's soothing….really bright. Kind of like waves."

"My Force energy," I explained, "The warmer it is, the more to the light you're prone to be. It's something I was trained to sense in all living beings, mostly others who are Sensitive," Finn nodded, drinking in what I told him as he then looked a bit grave now.

"Rey feels…..she feels different," He explained, his voice almost a bit lower now as he was thinking of his dear friend, "Something shifted with her. She used to feel strong…and she still does…but."

"She's hesitant," I said in agreement, seeing him look at me now as we were both on the same page, "Whatever was told her shook her good and shifted."

"She told me," Finn started, having me inch in a bit closer now since he too was holding something in and was afraid to say what it was. He was about to answer then when BB-8 rolled into the hallway in a mad rush. He was beeping fast and urgent now as I knelt.

"What is it?" I asked him, hearing some more chipping now as I looked behind him, hoping Rey was coming back since BB-8 was with her. But there was no Rey, and already I could sense something was wrong.

"Wait..slow down!" I said to the dried now as he beeped it again now, having me look at him in shock when he explained it once more.

"She did what?!"

* * *

I was running as fast as I could over the hill again with my binoculars in one hand, knowing that others were not too far behind me. I was beyond worried about Rey now, she was going something beyond dangerous. I was thinking of the worst since we still needed her. But her find was solely on the Wayfinder.

I reached the top of the hill, once again seeing the rolling massive waves getting higher and nastier by the second as the wind was picking up in no time. I threw on my binoculars, hearing the others running up to reach me there as I started to scan the waves and the surface of the ocean. I was hoping not to see the worse, but after a few seconds of looking around, it could be the case.

But of course, I found her.

"She took a took a skimmer?!" Janna said in shock behind us as Poe was looking through his own pair and then giving them to Finn. I saw the speeder going over the top of the water, clearly seeing Rey at the helm and trying to steer her way through the storm and over to the Death Star. I gave her credit for not backing down, but this was getting out fo control now since it felt like even we couldn't stop her.

"Rey," I said quietly now as I heard Poe walking away back over to where the Falcon was, Finn hot on his heel. Finally, I turned and tried to keep up with the others as I could tell Poe was now beyond furious.

"What the hell was she thinking?!" Poe said in a huff.

"Poe, we've gotta go after her!" Finn said in urgency as I was now getting closer to the both of them while we were going down the hill through the grassy plains.

"We'll get the Falcon fixed, we'll go out there as soon as we can—" Poe tried to explain as they were still walking faster.

"No, we're gonna lose her," Finn argued back. Poe stopped and turned around to face him, throwing out his arms.

"She left us! Want do you wanna do, swim?" He asked in an angry tone to Finn. I stood behind Finn, watching both of them argue about Rey and I could tell they both were at their wits end about it.

"She's not herself. You have no idea what she's fighting," Finn explained harshly, having me cringe a bit when Poe's face turned slightly dismayed from hearing that.

"And you do?" Poe asked, his voice lower now since it was just the two of them. No one was moving, but the energy in the air within the last minute was strung out and static.

"Yeah…I do. And so does Leia." Finn answered confidently, Poe's stance shifted from the mention of my mother. I took a step too, seeing that Poe almost seemed hurt that he was being compared to Leia. Poe admired my mother, looked up to her in all aspects, but now it seemed like he knew he was lower than her, and it hurt.

"Well, I'm not Leia," Poe stated to him in almost a growl, pointing to Finn with the binoculars in his hand. I made a fist in my hand, not wanting this kind of talk to happen at all with us. Finn snatched the binoculars out of Poe's hand within a second and pointed right back at him.

"That's for damn sure." He commented back before he turned and walked back up the hill over to Janna. I stayed still, seeing Finn walk back me now as Poe looked down at his feet, clearly frustrated. I felt like I should say something to him, anything, to make this all better though it felt like it wasn't going to be. But the only thing that I was thinking about was Rey.

Rey was in danger.

Reluctantly, I turned and jogged a bit over to Finn and Janna, seeing Finn look through the binoculars once more.

"I have another skimmer," Janna explained to Finn as I got close enough to them.

"Then we need to get to her," I said to them, both Finn and Janna looking over at me. Finn was about to argue with me but I shook my head at him, "We need to help her as much as we can. Rey could be in more trouble than it's worth."

Finn nodded his head in agreement now. We both could feel it, and I didn't want it to be worse for Rey.

"Let's get her."


	10. Chapter 10

The ride out on the skimmer was rough, rough and almost unbearable at times. But Janna, Finn and I were looking dead ahead at the Death Star in front of us. The rain was now pounding, out in the open sea, making the massive waves get bolder and threatening, at some moments the waves in front of us made us look like mere insects.

But we were determined to get to Rey.

Of course, the very last thing that I wanted to do was to make Poe worry even more since his recent fight with Finn over Rey and how Poe was no leader in comparison to my mother, the last thing I wanted to do was let him know that I was doing this. Of course, we knew that the other would be making spur of the moment choices, maybe he won't be surprised by this that I would help Rey and the others.

That, and he needed to be alone.

We were edging closer to the Death Star, seeing the mass size in the waves. It was dark, cold outside and inside with the damage clearly being seen, and I could feel the history of pain and darkness around it. Not only was this a symbol of evil from the past, but my parents have seen this when it was a weapon of mass destruction and when it would take out planets within moments. My own parents have seen it, they seemed to destroy it, and it was crazy how now I was seeing it as an adult.

This was a haunting place. A place of death.

Finally, we reached within the large massive cracked interior of the weapon. Janna was steering us around the large masses of metal that were sticking out from the water, weaving in and out naturally as Finn and I were looking for any sign of Rey. She had to be close, and the deeper we were traveling, the tighter it was getting. We were then shielded by the rain, yet some drips were still coming down and the infamous chill was all over us.

I was looking up, seeing the insides of the Dead Star. It almost looked like a hallow skeleton, creaks were hearing from the pounding rain that was outside and the roaring ocean waves crashing against the corpse of the Death Star. This was not a good place and that fact that Rey and no hesitation to get here was enough to have me really panic for her.

"There! The other skimmer!" We all looked to see Janna pointing to the Skimmer Rey used some time before, resting against one of the major pillars that were sticking up from the water now as Janna lead us over to it. Once we were close enough, our skimmer was slowing down gradually and then the engines turned off when we're next to the first skimmer. All three of us were looking around to see if we could find Rey, yet there was no sign of her. I wasn't going to be one who sits here and just look.

I had to go out there.

"I'll climb up here and see if I can find some kind of spot where we can find her. I'll let you know what I can kind and we'll go together," I said to the others as I was wiping off the excess water from my hands, "Hopefully she's not too far off," I walked over to the edge of the skimmer, seeing the fat pillar and how I was thinking of my route when I would climb.

"Be careful,' Finn warned me as I got one of my hands on the metal pillar, gripping it tight.

"I'm always careful," I replied back in a light manner, starting my climb. It was a bit rough, piece of metal poking out and metal jagged here and there. But it was possible and bearable, and as I got higher I tried my best not to look down since I was getting higher and higher up. My breathing was helping me concentrate.

I found a landing where I could stand, though everything was slightly tilted. Even then, I knew I was in some kind of hallway now, taking a moment to adjust and find my footing. It was higher up from the waves, and the wide hallway clearly showed the damage to the downfall. There were old Stormtrooper helmets, spewed all over the floor around the corner now as I was about to walk. It was quiet, eerie and quiet with only the faint sounds of waves and the drips of water coming down from the dead wires.

That's when I heard it: lightsabers.

I instantly ran back over to the opening where I climbed out from. Peering over the edge, carefully and without moving my feet, I looked all the way down to see both Finn and Janna waiting for me down t the skimmer.

"I found Rey!" I called down the way into the water, "I'll go and find her and meet you!"

"Is she okay?" Finn called back up to me with his voice echoing in the opening and against the metal walls. I heard it again, the sounds of lightsabers. But it wasn't just one, I could tell from how the sounds were different. I knew the other sound of the other saber, not Rey's It made me panic and grasp the corner edge of the wall. No, this can't be happening. Not now.

Ben was there.

"She's not alone!" I said in a panic to him, "Get up here and hurry, Finn!"

I whirled around and start to walk briskly down the hallway, trying to stay level and avoid any kind of holes in the ground. If Ben was really here, then this went from and to worse. Was he after the same thing too? When he told me that he didn't want me involved with whatever was happening, did it only involve Rey? What was she when it came to Ben?

Something had to be done.

I got over to the edge of another opening, hearing the sounds of the sabers high above me in the open, out of the massive Seat Star itself. I looked over to see a smaller hallway opening on the right, rushing through it and feeling Rey being closer than ever. There was an opening that was taking me out into the open air, the rain pouring in and the sounds of the waves crashing against the Death Star.

As soon as I got to the opening, the rain was pounding and pouring along a long walkway that was almost floating in the waves of the ocean. It was wide enough to land an X-Wing, but the water and rain were making it hard for me to move around. Finally, I was able to walk forward a bit, my hand on my saber on the holster, though it was hard to see ahead since the spray of the water was coming over me every other second.

But the sounds of Ben and Rey were getting closer.

I sped up my walk, making me think of the worst now as I dodged another wave that was coming in front of me. I didn't think that time was on my side now since Rey could be in big trouble. I was alone now, no one was around to help me out in this, but I knew this was what needed to happen. Finally, I could see in the far distance two distinct lights that looked like long beams, hitting and dancing around each other.

It was Rey and Ben.

I started to run, seeing another wave coming over to stop me. But this time, I wasn't going to let a wave get in the way of what could mere important moments. I threw up my arm before the wave could slam down, The Force I was focusing on was making a round defensive shield to not have it hit it. The water moved around me as I ran, not one once of rain hit me from the overhaul of the water that crashed behind me. I was now going into a sprint, seeing the lights getting brighter and more distinct.

Now I could finally see them, having me look in a panic now as Ben was using the Force to stop Rey's saber from hitting him. Her lightsaber was frozen in mid-air, mid-stride, and inches from hitting him as he was controlling his power to stop her. It was a split decision for me to make, but I knew it had to be done. There was a small platform the was in front of me, having me jump up from the platform and launch myself high up in the air. I was soaring up high, seeing the weightless sensation in my body as it felt like I was flying, Ben and Rey looking smaller below me. Yet it only lasted for a mere moment, as I was now going back down to the wide walkway and I threw out my hand.

I pushed Rey back with the blunt use of the Force.

He saber snapped off, the blue blade going into the holster as Rey released her saber from the impact of The Force. She flew backward, having me push her back now and she was held against another large platform with her back seemingly plastered to the surface of it. She wasn't able to move as I landed on my feet in front of her, hand reached out to have her saber fly into my hand. Rey looked at me in shock now as I faced her, placed her saber in my spare holster spot.

"This isn't your fight," I reminded her, then hearing Ben's saber behind me. I froze, already having a sense of dread now as I was still facing Rey, my back to Ben now as his saber was humming a bit away from me. I rolled my shoulders, placing my dominant hand on my own saber that was ready to be used.

"It's not yours, either," Ben reminded me, having me not say anything now as he spoke some more, "Coming to rescue your ally?"

"No," I replied, my hand gripping on the handle of the saber on my hip and then taking it now to my side, "I'm here to rescue my twin brother."

"You know he's dead," Ben reminded me, having me look dead ahead. I could see Rey looking at me now, still against the wall there and not moving as I was breathing out a slow and deep breath. I didn't want this to be the only way, this was killing me from the inside out. But now I was left with no choice, and now I was finally giving my mind into what I needed to do.

"Then I'll do what I must," I said in a lower tone, slowly turning around to face Ben. He was standing there, his red saber in hand and looking vicious as he was watching me in his stance. Ben, compared to when we talked before without our minds, looked just as challenged as before as he was watching my every move.

I held out my saber handle away for my body, clicking one side of my yellow saber to go on and hum in the sound of the rain. But then I clicked another button, the saber coming out of the other side. All of the tinkering that I went through and worked on, the plenty of hours that I had with my saber to make it better than before, now it was the time for me to put my lightsaber to good use.

My duel lightsaber.

I aimed it right in front me, almost like a shield as I was watching Ben see if he was going to make the first move. I saw that he was hesitant, almost doubting what he was seeing and if I was really going to challenge him. I still didn't know his real motive behind why he was doing this, let alone why Rey was in the middle of all of this. But as soon as he pointed his saber right at me, right towards my chest, I knew he made his choice.

And I was going to make mine.

Ben made the first strike, I blocked it easily and I contoured back. It was fluid and quick for the both of us, almost coming naturally as I was dodged some of his jabs and go for the strike on my own. I was moving fast and without hesitation, both of us moving our sabers as if they were part of our bodies.

It almost made me remember when we were dueling each other as kids, practicing on each other and making each other better. Those moments were tender to me, having me miss them dearly since how we were dueling under different circumstances.

I blocked one strike at my back with one side of my saber as I then threw the saber over my head to block another strike in front of me within an instant. I pushed him off fo me and spun my saber within the pam of my hand above my head to bring it down to land mere inches from Ben. He dodged back from the impact, having me almost crouch over from how hard I threw the blow, the both of us staring at each other now as I was breathing heavily and he was analyzing what to do next.

"You're better than this," I reminded him, my voice heavy from our duel and I saw the wind pushing his black hair out in front of his eyes, though I could still see him, "You know you're still Ben Organa Solo, and if I have to fight you to get that through your stubborn head, then fine."

Ben went for another strike at me, at which was ready. We were going on like this for some time, trying to avoid any slippage that came out way thanks to the rain and water. But we weren't' backing down from one another, the energy from the both of us was as strong as ever while we were trying to find the others weak spot.

At one point I slammed my saber down at his own, holding it there for a long time as Ben was trying to keep my saber away him. We both felt it, it was sudden, a loss of something was sinking in and we both moved away from each other. I looked in shock, my head spinning from what I was feeling, or not feeling anymore. It was a loss within me, a sudden shift that was missing and having my clutch my chest in fear that it was some kind of mistake. But I knew what it was, and I advent' felt this way since Uncle Luke….

Oh no…no.

_"Neyli…."_ I felt a single tear fall for my eyes when I hear her voice in my head, for the last time.

"Mom."


	11. Chapter 11

It was like someone took out one large chunk of my heart and it was gone.

I fell to the floor, my fingers sprawled out on the metal surface as my saber clicked shit and hit the ground. My head was hung down low and I had no breath left in me. I tried to search my inner energy to see if it was true: what I sensed and what was lost was real.

My mother was slipping…

Ben's saber went cold too, both of us were stone-cold from what we sensed. He was silent too, almost looking off in the distance now with something heavy in his heart. I looked over at him, seeing that same face too that I had. I knew he felt it, he had to have felt it now as we both were experiencing the loss of our mother.

But Rey was moving, her hand stretched out to grasp my saber from my holster and it flew into her hand. She ignited the saber, instantly driving it to Ben's stomach and he flinched.

"BEN!" I screamed in agony, seeing the saber come out fo him within an instant now as he was gasping for air from his wound. His saber fell to the ground in a heap next to me, his hand going over his wound on his lower stomach as he fell clumsily to the ground in front of me, having me see the hurt on his face. I knew he wasn't just hurt from what Rey did to him, he as hurt by our mother.

I got up slowly, not standing completely but almost making my way over Ben since he was so close. I didn't even look at Rey directly, but I could see out fo the corner of my eye that she too felt the loss of Leia. She seemed broken too, yet my focus was on Ben.

There was a major shift in him.

The chaos within him was less erratic and more of a slow lull of chaos. It was like a dam within him whatever was holding up so tight and so fiercely, was no broken because of my mother being lost. He was vulnerable now, and there was nothing else for him to hold onto now as I was kneeling next to him and peering down at him. Blinking away the rain from my eyes, along with the tears, I saw the pain there on his face from all that we just experience within seconds,

"Neyli…" He said my name in a gasp on his lips, almost broken but bold as I nodded, seeing his lunch his wound on his lower stomach. I felt the pain there, along with my own as we were just trying to breathe again.

"I know," I responded to him, looking down at his lower stomach wound. It didn't seem too bad, but it wasn't in the best spot for Ben. I stretched out my fingers and inched a bit closer to him. I didn't care at this point if there was still darkness left in him, although I could barely feel it. Whatever shifted was slowly letting the Dark Side within him sip away, slowly and almost in a calm manner. Even with the look on his face, it was no longer stern and filled with hate but more subtle and calm.

Rey moved, clicking her saber closed as she watched the both of us there on the platform, close enough to breathe the other in. Ben and I locked eyes with each other as I gasped his gloved hand on my own. I felt how he was hiding my hand gently, no force of power behind it. It felt like he was Ben again, the Ben I grew up with and knew like the back of my hand. There was no more Kylo Ren, at least not in front of me and holding my hand in an intimate embrace.

Rey walked over and stood over the both of us. She looked at me, my eyes drilling into hers to see what she was going to do next. Her vendetta with him made her pierce him with our Uncle's saber, and now I was clutching my saber that was at my feet to give her a silent warning. If I was this close in having my old brother back, there was no way I wasn't going to chance it and have her do something else to him. But she didn't, having me see her then lock eyes with him now. I stayed still, not knowing what she was going to do.

Rey knelt and placed her hand on his wound.

She closed her eyes and started to rebate very deeply. I was frozen, still holding Ben's hand as we were both watching his wound slowly melt away like the rain and the water around us. Her breathing was in my senses now, and I knew it was in Ben's too. I saw how still she was and how she was pushing to heal him, making me beyond amazed by what I was witnessing.

His wound was gone. As if it never existed.

I was amazed she could do something like this, the craziness of all that was going on and what she was feeling within the last moment. She pulled away, feeling so remorseful from what she did and how she did it. All three of us were broken, but I saw how she was looking at Ben now as she finally spoke.

"I did want to take your hand," She admitted to him, taking in a breath before she went on, "Ben's hand."

She then looked over at me, having sensed that she was waiting for me to at least hit her and infect pain for what she did to Ben. I was still holding his hand, not letting go as I gave her a knowing look. She still had a job to do, and she wasn't going to end it here and now.

"Neyli.." She trailed off, trying to find the right words, "I—"

"Go," I said to her, putting her off a bit harshly now. She shook, not expecting me to say that to her. Who was I to stop her? I had no more will power for something like this, now now. Rey, reluctantly, rose and gave me one last look. I gazed at her, silently telling her one more time to go and not turn back. What was in the past, our future was still in the balance.

Finally, she ran off, going for Ben's TIE fighter, leaving the both of us there to watch her boost up the TIE fighter and then fly off without a second glance. We were silent there together, soaked from the ran as Ben squeezed my hand.

"Neyli," He said to me, his tone was soothing now and yet wavy. I looked back at him now and I saw him look at his with his eyes, "You need to go….go to mom."

"Come with me," I urged him, helping him sit up a bit now. I could hear the Falcon flying over in the distance which meant Poe was piloting the ship, "Ben, mom needs the both of us—"

"No," He shook his head now as he gave me a hard look, "She just needs you. It's too late for me."

"Don't say that," I countered back, shaking my head, "Nothing's impossible," I grimaced a bit, something that my mom said in the past as I replayed her voice saying that in my head.

"You need to be with mom now," Ben reminded me as we were still alone there, though the Falcon was coming closer and closer. I was more focused on Ben and seeing my brother right in front of me. It was breaking my heart to hear him want me to be away from him, to once again be separated by him.

"I don't want to lose you again, Ben," I admitted to him, seeing how he too was thinking about this, "Losing you once was enough to have me almost.."

Ben reached up and placed his gloved hand on my cheek, having me go quiet now as he took n a shaky breath, the moment between us was warm but shaky. There wasn't a whole lot of dark in him now, it slipped away and it was soothing to have my brother there. But he was still hesitant, I could feel it.

"I still need to finish what I started," He explained to me, searching my eyes with his own, "I need to stop him before he hurts Rey and you," I was shocked when he said this as he grunted a bit to move up a bit properly, "I need to make sure he won't get you. You need to be safe,"

"I can help," I suggest to him weakly, on the verge of tears in the realization we were separating again. He gave me a weak smile then.

"You always want to help," He commented in a caring tone. I wanted to smile, but it felt like it was too hurtful to do just that, "If all goes according to plan, we'll be reunited again you and me."

"Ben.." I started, but he shook his head. He then started to get up, having me help him carefully with my hands on his elbow. We were standing there side by side, having me look past him to see Finn and Janna not too far away, watching both of us talk. But I was focused on my brother.

"I promise, we will," he said to me in reassurance. I had to believe him, with all the was going on within the last few hours, there had to have been some kind of hope and positive feeling coming out of this. If I was close enough to already lose my mother, I couldn't lose my brother.

"Go," he said to me gently, giving me a pondering look as I knew we had to be separated again, "Go."

* * *

So I went.

I walked up the ramp into the Falcon with Finn right behind me. Janna was going to stay behind and be with her people, though she reassured us that they're more than willing to help with the fight. But I was already feeling as though I went through plenty of wars all in one day, beyond exhausted with all that happened. We needed to get back to our Resistance Base, I had to get back to my mother. My Force Sense was telling me that she needed me to be with her, and yet I wanted Ben to be there too.

As soon as I turned the corner in the Chess Room, there was Poe. I cringed and froze, seeing him watch me there with his hands at his sides. I was seeing the clear look he was giving me and how I felt like I didn't know what to say to him. I couldn't talk my way out of it, and Poe was the hardest person to lie to since he and I knew each other very well. He saw the interaction with Ben and me there on the platform, I knew he did when he flew the Falcon over to come to get us. What I was waiting for, was to hear him yell at me, or scold me for talking to him.

But he didn't do that.

Finn could see that we needed to the room alone to talk, so he carefully walked around us and over to the cockpit, having me feel the heaviness there in the air now as Poe was giving me an intense look now. I knew something was coming, and I was bracing for it.

"You went and you talked with him?" He asked me carefully, trying to control his voice. I knew that he was trying not to get angry, but it was getting closer now. My old self would try and snap back at him with some kind of remark, but I was drained. This was the last thing I wanted to do, the very last kind fo conversation that I wanted.

"After all that we just went through with him with the First Order, you though it would be okay for you to just talk to him," Poe stated, though his voice was started to rise and be agitated.

"I need to talk to him—" I started with him, trying to keep my voice level now as Poe cut me off.

"No," he said sternly, having me almost shake in how his voice sounded as he pointed at me, "You were needing to get yourself in danger once again and maybe get killed. Do you have any idea what was going on in my mind when I saw you with him?!"

I was quiet now, hanging my head on the floor and holding my hands together like I was a scolded child. not saying a word as he was telling me this. I had to have known this was going, and sure I was making mistake after mistake and putting my neck not he line. But there was no need for me to rebuke or defend my actions with him. I wanted to do the opposite. At this point, with what was feeling with my mother, and what I saw with Ben, I wanted to hide.

"Neyli, I really thought, over and over now, that you were going to die," Poe went on, and half of the time I wasn't hearing him now since I was once again overwhelmed with what I was feeling with my mother. Her energy was slipping, more and more now as I was feeling less and less of her. Not to mention, the new Shift that I was feeling with Ben. It was all moving within me and having me almost have a panic attack there since I didn't know how to control it. I knew what I did with Poe was reckless, and yet I was just trying to hold it together in front of him since it felt like it was going to explode at any moment. I could hear Poe in the background, but my mind was swimming and I was feeling the emotions coming over me like a blanket.

_I failed….I failed…I failed…._

I slammed my eyes shut, trying to block it all out. The senses from my mother, and now the senses from my brother. It was too much and too insane for me to try and concentrate, and I felt my tears slipping through and hitting my hands there folded in front of me. I breathed out shakily, my energy was shaking now as I was feeling more alone than ever.

"We need you here…and you're off doing god knows what—"

"Poe, stop!" Finn said to him old from the opening to the hallway. I didn't hear him come into the room and hear Poe rant at me, nor did I feel him as I did in the past. But now that there was silence in the room, and Poe immediately stopped. I was still quiet, my eyes were still shut as I was now just trying not to cry in front fo him and Finn. Finn must have sensed what was going on with me when he was about to take off with the ship, which was why he was there. I felt one more tear fall and I immediately swapped it off my hands as I moved to get the rest off my face I took out a shallow breath.

I finally opened my eyes to Poe, seeing him look right at me now with no more anger or agitation on his face. But he was looking like he was just punched hard in the stomach. He was looking with wide eyes, in awe of what he did and how he overtipped everything now as I took in one more shaky breath. I stood still, my hands now at my sides and my stance was beyond stiff, though it felt like I could fall over within a moment from a breeze. It was tense in the air, but I had to let out what was bottled inside of me.

"I know what I did was stupid, let alone suicidal," I started, seeing him not say anything now, "But these past few hours for me were the worst I have ever felt in my life. Not only am I trying to help with the Resistance as best as I can, but my brother is needing me. My twin brother, who I thought was dead for the past decade or two, and who is coming back to the light side of the Force. No matter how hard I try to help him, I have people around me that I was insane to try and help him."

"Neyli—" Poe said to, but I stopped him and I held out my hand to him,

"No!" I shouted now, tears now coming down slowly on my face, "He's my flesh in blood, and we both felt my mother…my mother…slipping," I said in cringe and almost in a blubbery mess, "I lost my dad, and I'm so close to losing my mother too. I honestly don't care at this point now if others are going to see me differently, but I just want my family back! I'm tired, beyond tired trying to help and trying to just keep it together when others are trying to hold me back from doing what I need to do, telling me what to do and how to do it! Everyone needs to STOP!"

Once again there was silence there in the room, my venting was over. It was a small ringing of my voice flowing out throughout the room and bouncing off the walls. Finally, after a moment of me almost screaming at both Poe and Finn, Chewie walked over from the cockpit, already looking off with what happened and what he was hearing.

He grumbled at me in concern as Poe and Finn looked at me heartbroken.

"No, Chewie. I'm…I'm fine," I said tiredly now as I waved him off and started to walk over to my quarters, I didn't even want to be there anything else, or hear what they had to say. I was angry, I was sad, and I was beyond done with all that was happening.

"Neil, I'm—" Poe started to apologize with his voice low and almost in a pleading tone, but I gave him one hard stare as I pointed at him.

"Don't" I hissed harshly at him as I took in one more breath, "Poe, I don't want to talk to you right now," I warned him, seeing him go quiet since this would be the first time I didn't want him around me. I saw the color drain on his face when I pushed him away, he hasn't seen that move from me before. I could see Finn give me a sad look now as he too was witnessing me almost break down in front of both of them. I walked away now, needing to be alone in my room and away from anyone and anything that could make it worse.

Once I got into the quarters and had the door shut on my finally, I leaned against the door and sunk to my knees, my head against my legs there as they were folded against my chest and my arms wrapped around myself. I felt very much alone, beyond alone now from how it felt like others were against me. I knew that I wanted to connect again with Ben, and I had that moment with Ben out there in the rain, it was just the others didn't see it that way. Why couldn't they see it that way?

Why couldn't they see Ben how I saw him?


	12. Chapter 12

The first knock was gentle and tentative against my door as I was now on my bed, looking right up at the ceiling and resting my hands on my lower stomach. Of course, my fit in front of Poe and Finn did the trick since for the first few minutes I wasn't disturbed at all. Maybe it did the real trick, or maybe it made me look worse. Either way, the left me alone with my thoughts. They were haunting, having me think back to why I did what I did. Then again, a part of me was glad I did what I did. All I was thinking about was my mother, the energy that I used to feel seem here was so small now the I could barely feel it, even if I concentrated so hard.

"Sweetheart?"

Of course, the way he would say my nickname was enough for me to genuinely know what he was trying to come from a good place. I closed my eye briefly, having me wish that we won't have another conversation that would turn into a fight. We had fought in the past, pasts over the protection of the other, and yet we were both too stubborn to give in. But this time, this was bad.

We both knew it.

"What I said back there was wrong," He said behind the door, this voice muffled from the thick door blocking him to get to me, "I was so heated and angry about something else going out of my control out here. With all that's going on….I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

I got up from the bed and looked at the door, debating within my head if I should just open the door or let him ramble on since I was still feeling far too much.

"You're the one person I would never want anything to happen to. Since I lost my folks and was out on my own, I had no one really to call my true family. I need to be in control with who I can protect all the time, and I think I tried to do that with you," Poe explained some more from his spot in the hallway. I walked over slowly, not making a sound now as I stood right in front of the door. I was so tempted to open it, but I also felt like I should wait a few more moments.

"Listen, I want you to know that I do trust you, I trust you more than anyone else here in the Resistance," he explained some more as I placed my palm there against the steel door, almost feeling the genuine tone he was using within my fingers, "I know I've been reckless at the best of time because I thought what I was doing was right…..and you were only doing the same. I don't know what you have with your brother, so I shouldn't have yelled at you for it."

Finally, I pressed my forehead against the door and I took in a deep breath, having me feel emotional again since this was Poe. My Poe, the same Poe the I fell in love with and would move mountains for me if he could. As reckless and cocky as he was, he was still genuine and kind within himself. He knew when he was wrong, and he would always find a way to make it right.

"I know you hate me right now," Poe started, in which I finally spoke up and used my gentle tone.

"I would never hate you, Poe," I reminded him, hearing nothing from the other side fo the door, "I'm too in love with you to ever hate you,"

"Even after all that I said?" Poe asked, almost heartbroken as he said that to me, "I would take it all back if I could,"

"It's already forgotten," I reassured him as I turned and leaned back against the door with my back and head, "All that's happening to us right now, with this war, I only wished it was easier."

"I know, sweetheart," Poe soothed, "I do believe you, by the way."

"Believe me…" I repeated after him.

"About all of it: your brother and him coming back from the Dark Side…what you feel with him….All of it. I was too stubborn to admit it, but I do believe you." Poe admitted to me as we were still talking to each other now with our hushed tones. Nothing else was heard, the slow hum of the ship and the occasional creak within the walls were the only things ringing in the open air.

"I'm tired, Poe," I said in a languid and drawn out tone as I looked dead ahead, feeling my insides that once were warm with the light almost going dull, "I'm tired of being someone important in this Resistance. I'm tired of being the daughter of Han and Leia Solo. I'm tired of being the sister of Kylo Ren. I just…I don't know who I can be anymore,"

It was odd to think of who I was supposed to be, in a time like this. I thought I knew my place before, I thought I was hiding true to the path I was supposed to follow. But it all changed from the simple mission Poe took to Jakku years before and when the war got bigger and even more dangerous. The biggest shift was my brother and how I was determined to find him and bring him back to the light. It felt like I lost my way.

"You're Neyli-Organa Solo," Poe said from behind the door, sounding sure of himself, "You're one of the best pilots in the Resistance, a brilliant mechanic who knows how to fix droids and X-wings with her eyes closed, someone who knows how to do the right thing more than others, the love of my life that I don't want to lose ever, and most importantly." He paused, having me crane my neck to have my ear closer to the door to hear what else he had to say, "You're a Jedi. If there's one thing I want you to be sure of, it's that."

I grinned slightly, already feeling a sense of peace slowly coming back over me from the feeling of dread that was once there. I had to let those words sink in, let them come over me like water, and I had to remind myself of those facts that Poe pointed out. There were times before when we would fight, then we would remind each other of who we were and we would reconcile. This was different, it felt like it at first, but we were still going to work this out together.

Finally, something dawned on me now as I raised my eyebrow, "You didn't want to come in here and talk to me?"

There was a moment of silence on his side of the door, "I didn't know if you still wanted to see me."

"You know I would have."

"Well, I wanted to be nice about it and knock first." I had to smile wider from how he was trying to say it nicely. I finally got up from leaning against the door and I faced it, placing my hand on the pad to open it swiftly. There he was, standing with his hands carefully placed at his sides and looking at me dead in the eye. His hair was still swiftly moved to the side, but the look on his face compared to before was different. It was softer now, almost mournful from how he saw me tear streaks on my face and how I looked more vulnerable.

He walked over the last few steps to be right in front of me, almost invading my own space now when he applied his hands on my face to cradle my face. He was beyond gentle, having me still see the look of remorse on his face from what he did and how he felt guilty with how he talked to me.

"I'm so sorry, Neyli," he said to me with the sadness on his face, "I'm so so sorry, I have no right to say any of those things to you—"

"Did you mean what you said?" I asked, seeing him raise his eyebrow now at me, "When you were telling me that I was the love of your life?" I knew it sounded like I was doubting him with his feelings for me. But to me, I had to hear it one more time to make sure we both were on the same page.

"You always were," Poe reassured me as he could tell I was searching his eyes. I finally smiled widely at him, leaning in to kiss him boldly. He held it, his hold against my face was still gentle and yet protective as we were kissing there in the hallway of the ship. I hands gripped his shirt within my fingers as I planted another kiss and I felt him scoot a bit closer.

Once I pulled away, I could see the blissed-out look on his face as we were looking at each other. His eyes were realized and yet wide as he was taking in a deep breath.

"Then we're okay," I reassured him, watching him give me a reassuring grin as he then leaned in and wrapped his arms around me to hug me close. I was glad we had this kind fo closer, that we both were wanting to be on the same side and not fight.

"Yeah," Poe said in agreement, "Yeah we're okay. And we're gonna be back to base real soon," I paused a second, already trying to feel out my mom like I did before. But it was weak, way too weak for me to even try and contact her.

"My mother," I said in a whisper, "She's weak, real weak."

"We'll get back to her and talk to her. With all that's happening right now, we're gonna need her," Poe reminded me as he moved his hands from my neck down to warm up my arms, "We'll regroup and find out what to do next."

"What about Rey?" I asked.

"We don't know where she went," Poe answered, "But I hope she's okay."

"Me too."

* * *

We landed the Falcon back on base, and the four of us walked out to head right over to headquarters in hopes to see my mother. But something was off as soon as we saw the other Resistance member, looking at us with grave looks and stares. I could feel it behind my shoulders as we were walking through together as a group, already looking worn out and rung out to dry. I was next to Poe, who was clutching my hand with his gloved one and was having us through the familiar jungle terrain. Commander D'Arcy jogged over to us with a worried look on her face as she tried to talk to both Poe and myself and stop us.

"Poe, Neyli, something's happened-" She was cut off by Finn.

"This can't wait," Finn cut her off as he walked past her.

"We have to see the General," Poe said to her as we passed Commander D'Arcy and kept walking. But she said two words that made us stop and look at her in sorrow.

"She's gone."

We all froze, looking back at her briefly before we looked at each other. That was why I couldn't feel her as well as I did before, she was dead. Her energy was barely left b the time we landed back at base, so who knew how long she was dead for. It made me think back to when I was with Ben, and we both felt it so strongly that we stopped fighting. Our own mother slipped from us and we both were affected so dramatically by it. Poe instantly looked at me with sadness in his face as I was blank, trying to wrap my head around it.

Now, I lost both my mom and dad.

Poe was hugging me gently now as I could hear Chewbacca wailing in the background, Finn was trying to cool him but it was no avail. I wasn't screaming, nor was I thrashing in pain and anger, I was silently crying within Poe's embrace and I was silently mourning for my mother. I wasn't there for her when she was last alive, and yet it felt like I was with the connection we had together with The Force.

* * *

"You need anything?" Jencon asked me as we were sitting together at the edge of my mother's old quarters at the base, it was nestled at the side near the line fo X-Wings, including my own. I was looking at all of her old things, whereas her body was covered in a white cloth right in the middle of the made quarters. I was trying so hard not to look, but at this point, with that blast of anger that I had on the Falcon, it was almost numb and melancholy with what I was feeling.

"I'm okay, thanks," I replied as I was looking over her schematics and planning that she was always trying to be ready for. Jencon was quiet for another few moments before he walked over to me and stood next to me.

"She was worried about you," he explained, having me look and watch him, "She always was. But I think this time…she knew you were going to be okay."

"That was my mom for you," I commented, nodding slowly as I saw R2D2 roll over to me now, along with Q2 right behind him. I heard R2D2 beeping at me sadly, in which I gave him a slow nod.

"I'm glad you were here with her, D2. I appreciate it." He beeped back at me with melancholy in his beeps. The droid knew my mother long before I was born, I tend to forget that R2D2 has seen plenty of things that we would never be able to comprehend.

Q2 beeped at me rapidly now as well, Jencon looked at my droid, "You were there too, Q2."

"I knew her health was never the best But I didn't think…" I trailed off.

"I don't think any of us did," Jencon added as I turned and looked at my mother's body on the platform covered and not seen. It should be that way, even her body looked peaceful and poetic. But she was still gone, and it felt odd that she wasn't here for me when I needed her.

"Where's Poe?" Jencon asked then, chaining the subject.

"Talking to the others about what to do next," I explained, scratching my hair thinking about it, "We're at a standstill."

"Any word about Rey and where she went?" Jencon asked, in which I shook my head.

"No word from her and no sign as to where she flew off to," I replied, "Since we don't know where she is, we're at a much bigger standstill than we were before. She didn't even mention if she found the last Wayfinder that would lead to Exegol…."

"Neyli!" Both Jencon and I looked over to see Rose running over to us, a look of heaviness there within her eyes, "We need you with the others. Something's happened."

"What is it?"

"Kijimi's been destroyed."

* * *

"Kijimi…how?" Poe asked, sounding devastated as we were with Rose, Beaumont Kim, Jencon, Commander D'Arcy underneath one of the tens with the panels showing the coordinates were Kijimi used to be.

"A blast from a Star Destroyer. A ship from the new Sith Fleet." Commander D'Arcy explained from next to Rose at the panel. Poe placed his hands in his hips, already looking dread about what just happened.

"The Emperor sent a ship from Exegol Does that mean every ship in the fleet—" Beaumont asked in surprise as we were all thinking the same thing in our heads.

"Has planet-killing weapons. Of course, they do. All of them, this is how he finishes it." I answered for Poe, seeing him give me a grim look now as it was all sinking in for the rest of us. But then a message in some other language came through on our panels, Rose looking at the numbers and then motioning to us.

"Listen! It's on every frequency." Rose said as she turned up the volume. The message was filled with static, but it was Beaumont who spoke up and translated.

" 'The Resistance is dead, the Sith flame will burn. All worlds, surrender or die, the Final order begins.' " Beaumont translated as the message was read over and over within its own code. I could see the others all looking at Poe now, the look on his face was grim mournful from the news.

"Leia made you acting General, what now?" Rose asked him. They were wondering as well what our next move was, and yet Poe was frozen. With all of the setbacks that we had there for the Resistance, Poe felt like he hit a wall and there was no way to go around.

General Poe Dameron was stuck.

* * *

Poe was sitting next to my mother's body, watching it closely as if he was waiting for her to wake up from being asleep, the night came over us now with a chill within the air as the others were waiting for his orders. I told the others to give him some space, tinning that he needed some time within his head to find a way for us to come back and fight the First Order.

He was resting his chin within his fingers as he was leaning on his knees and watching dead ahead of him, I could see how he was trying to think of a way, and since he couldn't think of one he was getting frustrated. I didn't say anything, but I watched him in both concern and admiration.

"To be honest I don't really know…how to do this. What you did….I'm not ready." Poe admitted, almost sounding broken himself as he was talking to my mother. Maybe he thought she would answer him, and yet there was nothing. I felt terrible for him, walking over to stand right behind him and placing my hands on his shoulders to somehow show him I was there. We both were coming from raw places, from a recent fight on the Falcon, and now we were vulnerable together once more.

Slowly I leaned over to press my head against his head from behind, wrapping one good arm around his front against his chest and keeping him there for a brief moment. He held my arm with one hand, showing that he knew I was there and that he didn't mind it.

"Neyli I don't think I'm ready for this," Poe said in a softer tone to me as he was rubbing my arm with his thumbs, I only breathed him in.

"No one can be at this point," I reminded him, "And yet we're all going to stand right behind you and help you, no matter what."

"But still…this is all or nothing, being ready seems impossible," Poe admitted.

"Neither were we," We both got up and looked over our shoulders from behind us. It was Lando Calrissian, walking over to us with a soft glow in his eyes. We both were surprised to see him since we thought we left him back on Planet Passana, "Luke, Han, Leia, me, who's ever ready?" He then looked over at me directly in the eyes, walking over to give me a knowing look. I smiled back at him, though it wasn't a big smile as it was before.

"I'm so sorry to hear about your mother, kid," He said to me, squeezing my shoulder.I nodded at him, seeing him eye my outfit there and he pointed to my vest, well, my father's vest.

"Your dad's, right?" He asked.

"Yeah," I answered, "Figured I would wear it in honor of him," he smiled widely at me.

"He would have wanted it that way." He confessed to me, and now Poe was walking over to stand next to me and face Lando.

"How'd you do it?" Poe asked, "Defeat an Empire with almost nothing?" I was wondering the same thing ti was just the four of them together in the Resistance a long time ago against the Empire. They had to have been our age at the time, having the same fear within them and the same insecurities if they could really fight against Darth Vader and win.

"We had each other," Lando said with a shrug with his shoulders, "That's how we won." As soon as he said that, I saw something go off behind Poe's eyes as he thought of something. I caught it, nudging his shoulder with my own now.

"What?" I asked, seeing him look at me with a glint back in his own eyes.

"I think I know what to do."


	13. Chapter 13

"Where is he?" Poe asked as he looked over at me from whirled around in almost 180 degrees. I looked at him in shock now as we left Lando there to pay his respects to my mother.

"Who?" I asked.

"Finn, where did he go?" Poe asked in a rush as he looked like an idea struck his brain.

"Last I saw, he was over by Rey's old studying spot, why?" I asked him, seeing Poe look past me int he direction where I mentioned where Finn could be. He smiled with determination, looking back at me now directly in the eyes.

"I know what to do."

"What?" I asked in shock as he walked past me, having me try to keep up with him as we were weaving our way through the crowd. The spot where I mention Finn could be, Rey's old studying spot, was tucked in the corner and almost nearly out of sight. But we both saw Finn there, coming out from the darkness and walking over to us with the same determination as Poe did. The smaller droid with the one wheel that BB-8 befriended rolled right behind him to keep up. Luckily they both met right in the middle.

"I gotta talk to you about something—" Finn started, but Poe cut him off

"I gotta talk to you about something," Poe explained ton him as they were facing each other, "I can't face this alone. I need you in command with me," I looked at him in shock now as Finn spoke now in a rush.

"Look this droid has…thank you. I appreciate that" Finn said suddenly from the recent news. Poe nodded his head at him once.

"General," Poe said to him, using his new title

"General," Finn said, then he stopped and looked over at me with a raised eyebrow now as he pointed to me, "You're General too?"

I paused, looking confused since Poe was looking at me too for some kind of answer. Maybe he was hopeful as I raised both hands in a sign of surrender out of this conversation.

"Technically Poe's in the right to be General," I explained, seeing Poe think about it as I shrugged my shoulders at him.

"Really?" Poe asked, having me give him a look.

"My mom made you acting General, not me." I reminded him, but Finn cleared his throat now as we both looked back at him.

"This droid has a ton of information about Exegol," Finn explained, pointing to the droid below him that was rolling back and forth on his one wheel.

"What, cone-face?" Poe asked, unimpressed, having me whack his arm to be nice about it when the small droid spoke up.

"I am D-O," The droid replied hastily, having me smirk from the fast remark.

"Sorry, D-O," Poe apologized before he looked back at Finn.

"He was going to Exegol with Ochi," Finn explained.

"Why was Ochi going there?" I asked, seeing Finn give me an intense look.

"To bring back a little girl he was supposed to take from Jakku…to the Emperor," Finn explained, having me see the look of worry on Peo's face. I looked at him in confusion now as I was having no clue what was going on, who they were talking about, and why the Emperor was brought into this conversation. I looked from Poe to Finn, wondering if he was going to tell me, but nothing was verbally said. I saw him pour his mind into my own, his energy connecting with mine as he finally told me what happened.

"Neyli," Poe started to explain, but I was looking directly at Finn now as we were mentally talking without Poe knowing, "When you were kidnapped on the Destroyer and we came to get you…Rey—"

"Rey's his granddaughter?!" I asked him in shock, breaking my connection to Finn now as I was looking at Poe with wide eyes. Poe was dead quiet, looking like he just saw me get shot with a blaster. he then pointed to me now with one shaky finger.

"How did…" He then slowly looked at Finn, seeing Finn look at him calmly, "Okay…you two clearly are talking in your heads since I didn't tell her anything yet!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Finn said fast as he looked down at the droid, "Come on, let's get you linked up." He hastily walked away, having Poe looking flustered and blubbering a bit now as he looked at me as if I was going to tell him some kind of answer. I just gave him a calm smile. If Finn wasn't going to tell him now either should I.

"I'll explain later, sweetheart," I reassured, patting his good arm with my hand as I followed. Poe grumbled a bit as he followed reluctantly.

"First my best friend and now my fiancé. Just great."

* * *

"All the information you need for an airstrike on Exegol." Finn explained as we were looking on the screen. We plugged D-O to one of the monitors, seeing the small that he had to show us Exegol and all that was surrounding it.

"Yeah except how to get there," Poe commented, nursing his injured arm a bit as he was peering into the monitor, "Are you seeing these admiral readings?"

"It's a mess out there. Magnetic cross fields…" Finn trailed off

"Gravity wheels, sonic wind?" Rose commented in agreement.

"How does an entire fleet take off from there?" I asked out loud to the four do us as C-3PO spoke up as he was walking over to us with R2D2 right behind him. Other members of the Resistance were gathering around when they saw the two droids making their way over to us to see what was going on.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid R2's memory banks but be cross with his logical receptors: he says he is receiving a transmission from…Master Luke," 3PO said to us, having my eyes grew big. I rushed over to kneel next to R2D2, seeing him chirp at me now as I was looking directly at the doors.

"You sure it's him?" I asked, seeing him chirp back at me, "Show me on the screen, buddy." he rolled over to our monitor and we saw him insert the information there along with the motor, a small tracking triangle object was seen there traveling along the minor.

"That's an old craft ID," Poe explained as he was looking at the numbers. I was doing it too, grabbing his sleeve and looking at him in shock.

"That's my Uncle Luke's X-Wing," I explained to him now since I remembered that call sign and number from stories in the past.

"It's transmitting course marker symbols, on its way to the unknown regions," 3PO explained.

"It's Rey," Finn said as he was watching the small triangle move along the surface,' She's going to Exegol, and she's showing us how to get there." Poe looked determined then more than he did before when he felt like we were down on our luck. He looked like a General, a glint in his eye and his mind in the right place.

"Then we go together."

Poe called a meeting of all the members of the Resistance under one of our carriers, already wanting them to know our plan that we came up with. I wanted Finn and Poe to take the lead with the plan since they were the ones who got it together. I was going to stand by Lando and Chewie, watching them as they were informing the group as the newly inducted Generals.

"As long as there are Star Destoyers on Exegol, we can hit them," Poe informed the group.

"Hit them how?" one pilot asked.

"They can't activate their shields until they leave the atmosphere," I explained to answer the question, in which Poe continued.

"Which isn't easy on Exegol, ships that size need help taking off. Nav can't tell which way is up, out there." Poe informed the group.

"So how do they ships take off?" Another member asked.

"They use a signal from a navigation tower, like this one," Poe answered, showing a hologram picture of the navigation tower in question for all of the group to see.

"Except they won't. Air team's gonna find the tower, grounds team's gonna blast it." Finn commented, though now Jencon spoke up.

"Ground team?" Jencon asked a bit shocked.

"I have an idea for that," Finn reassured him before focusing back on the group.

"Once the tower's down, the fleet will be stuck in admiral for a few minutes with no shields, and no way out," Poe told the group.

"We think hitting the cannons might igniter the main reactors," Rose explained.

"That's our chance," Lando said in confidence.

"We need to pull some holdon maneuvers, make some real damage," Beaumont suggested with his arms crossed in front of him.

"Come on, that move's one in a million. Fighters and freighters can take out their cannons if there are enough fo us." Finn countered back with him.

"There aren't enough of us!" one X-Wing pilot said in retaliation.

"He's right. We'd be no more than bugs to them." Connix said in agreement to the pilot.

"That's where Lando and Chewie come in. They'll take the Falcon to the core systems, send out a call for help for anybody listening " Finn reminded her, Poe nodding his head in agreement, some of the group were shifting from hearing the second part of the plan.

"We've got friends out there. They'll come if they know there's hope." Poe told them all, but I could see the grave look on their face in the reality that there might not be others that will come to our aid. The doubt was settling in, I could feel it.

"They will! The First Order wins when they make us think we're alone. We're not alone, good people will fight if we lead them." Poe reminded them, seeing a little more reassurance now with the group as I found my own voice standing a bit in front of both Finn and.

"Leia never gave up, and neither will we. We're gonna show them we're not afraid." I said in determination, all of their faces on me and they were quiet. I felt confident bringing up my mother, in what she believed in and what she fought her with her whole life and with all that she had in her.

"What are mothers and fathers fought for, we will not let die. Not today. Today we make our last stand. For the galaxy, for Leia, for everyone we've lost," Poe said in agreement as he placed his hand on my arm to show me he agreed.

"They've taken enough of us, now we take the war to them." Finn declared, having me hear the adrenaline in his tone. I could tell now that we as a whole were going to do this together, as we were all one united front as the Resistance.

* * *

"Mom, I think what we're about to do is…suicidal, but it might be our best shot," I was in the same position as Poe was sometime before when he was consoling my mother in a way that seemed intimate. The others were going off to get their ships and X-Wings ready for battle, but I felt like I needed a moment or two alone with my mother, and even though she was already gone, I didn't want this to be the very last I would see her physically.

I was sitting, perched on a storage box in front of her body and how quiet it was in our own corner. I was hoping to get some kind of sign from her and how she could help me, though she was already long gone. In the end, it was quiet and uneventful as I was taking my hair within my fingers and trying to make a braid down the back, a way that I would stay calm and get my head back in the right space.

"I know you're already…gone. And it hurts because I need you now more than ever since I'm scared, but I know now that you're still with me," I kept going, sounding like I was talking to myself with no one else around. Maybe I would have looked crazy to others that were walking by, but I didn't care. I was focused on my mother, and whatever hold she still had on my left.

"I was so close to binging Ben back here, mom. I was so close, we both felt you. Maybe you planned that on purpose….or mere accident. Who knows with this family," I paused and grinned, already thinking back to the plenty of antics our family has gone through or were known to have gone through, "It's hard without you and dad. Maybe Ben can still be saved, I can feel that light within him….just like you did. Did you feel it in him?"

It was soothing within me, venting all of this out to her now within our own quiet space. She was the one who never gave up on him when my dad ran off and others turned on him. I didn't know better because I believe the lie that he was already dead. But now that things were different, both my mom and dad were gone, I was the last family he had left.

"He's reached out to me, mom. He knows that I'm here and he wants to protect me. It feels like everyone around me has been wanting to protect me….and they forget that I'm your daughter. Hell, I have the blood of a Princess and a Scoundrel in my veins…that has to count for something with this. I'm not as afraid as I thought I was going to be, and I have you to thank for that. Just….be there with me when we do this," I felt a twinge of fear there, thinking that I could be the next one in this position where my mom is. It would only take one moment and I would be gone too, the last one in our family.

I didn't hear him coming up behind me, let alone stopping a bit behind me now, but I could feel him right there within the area. I was still, not moving an inch now as I was still watching my mother's body.

Finn's Force Energy was beyond strong.

"If Rey is really…the Emperor's granddaughter…then she'll need our help. Rey's in trouble…and I think I need to help her now more than ever, but I don't know what to do," I mumbled the last part.

"I want to help her too," Finn admitted, walking over to stand next to me now as he was looking down at me, "She never once saw me beyond who I was. Since I left all that I knew of being a Stormtrooper, Rey never flinched in her loyalty to me,"

"She has a good heart," I reminded him, finally looking away from my mother and over to Finn now, seeing him look at me in hesitance, "She saw the good in you, she saw it in all of us….which is why we need to help her."

"Knowing her though, she won't let us help her," Finn countered back, having me nod and then looked behind me to see if we were truly alone. It was just the both of us, having me clear my throat to make sure that Finn was paying attention to me now. I slowly got up to stand next to him and I analyzed his face.

"I know what I want to do…and it involves me helping Rey," I explained, seeing his face light up now as I mentioned our friend there, "But I need you not to say anything to Poe,"

"Why not?" He asked, having me roll my showers now as I gave Finn a look.

"Since what I was thinking of doing is downright crazy, but I think it's the one thing that I do need to do to help her," I explained, giving him a serious look. Finn could tell that I wasn't lying about this and I thought long and hard. Rey was going to need help, and if I was going to be able to help her, then no one else would need to know what I was going to do. It felt like I was already making decisions and choices that were already rash enough, and this was going to be the cherry on the top. But Ben was going to help Rey, and if what I was feeling was really going to happen.

Rey was going to try and stop the Emperor, and she wasn't going to be alone.


	14. Chapter 14

"Let's get this tuned up and ready to go," I said to Q2 as we were getting my X-Wing online and ready for the upcoming battle in Exegol. The rest of the Resistance were getting their X-Wings and ships ready too, all of us riding on the high from the pep talk, thanks to Finn and Poe, and now we were more than ready to go up against the First Order.

Q2 chirped at me from his spot in the back of the X-Wing, having me look up for being perched on the side of the X-Wing on top of the ladder, already in my pilot uniform and my regular clothes underneath.

"No, make sure that the vitals are stable before we take off," I reminded the droid, though Q2 beeped back, having me chuckle.

"Don't worry, we can make Hyperdrive in no problem, you make it sound like we've never done it before," I commented as a joke. I then heard footsteps behind me, having my pause on my work with my chip as I looked over my shoulder to see none other than Chewie and Lando. Lando was looking at my X-Wing, giving me a look over and almost grinning from what he was seeing.

"This your ship?" He asked, sounding amused as he pointed to my X-Wing. I leaned against it, my hands on my hips and my head cocked to the side.

"Since I started in the Resistance," I answered, "It's not much, but she's taken me all over and I don't plan on leaving her behind."

"It's a good looking ship," Lando commented as he walked over a bit more to stand in front of the ladder. "We wanted to come by and see if you wanted to think it over one more time to come with us on the Falcon. it would help to have the face of the Resistance there alongside us."

"That used to be my mother," I reminded him, pausing for a second as I thought of her, "No, I prefer to be in one of these."

"Fair enough," Lando commented, "You know, if they could see you now, they would be beyond proud." I smiled at him, and I knew he was coming from a good place when he said that. I could see a hint of sadness behind his eyes and how he said it to me, and I felt it since he knew them.

"You knew my parents well," I said to him as I eyed him, seeing him almost give me one of his famous smirks as I continued, "What were they like, really like?" It felt odd that I was asking him this, on the brink of war, when we were about to reach out for one last blink of hope to defeat the First Order. But then again, I never asked him what he thought of my parents, how he felt about them and all in between.

"Your dad was a bag of tricks," He explained walking over a bit, already thinking it out in his head, "Smuggling my ship out from under me, never could get a good reading on him too. Always going from one place to another,"

"Sounds like him," I commented, seeing him chuckle now as he then pointed at me.

"But your mother," I raised an eyebrow at him, "She was a real beauty. When I first met her in Cloud City, I could tell she could hold her own and you couldn't put anything past her. Smarter than your average Princess," He paused, a somber look on his face as he went on, "But your dad looked at her as if she hung all the stars and moons in the galaxy. Never once did I see other people look at someone like that before, and boy did I want that for my own love life. Never got it, since no one can live up to what your folks had."

I smiled widely, knowing that all that he told me was true. My parents loved each other fiercely, even through the rough times when they fought and were yelling at each other for loud that the entire galaxy could hear them. They still loved each other and move mountains for each other if they could. When I was getting older and I was seeing it from a pair of new eyes, I was yearning for love just like that.

But I did have that, I had it in my way and my own manner. What I had with Poe was good, pure, and deep. I knew my parents fought each other before the feelings did set in, and yet they had respect for each other within the snarky comments and remarks.

Poe and I were different, we were first friends before the feelings settled in, before he kissed me under the Force Sensitive tree at his childhood home. He was beyond kind of me, showing me a side of him that he would never show to others, and he still loved me from my family dram filled past and who my family was. We bore our feelings to each other, we knew each other's souls and we knew how the other ticked.

It was odd that I fell for someone that fast since it felt like I couldn't be loved, or I would never find it myself.

"I kind of have a feeling of what that's like," I murmured, mostly not myself but I knew he heard me too. He chuckled, then pointing behind himself and Chewie in the direction of where Poe was with his X-Wing. I looked too, seeing Poe check one this X-Wing with BB-8 chirping at him.

"You and that General Dameron, huh?" He asked, almost unconvinced now as he looked back at me. Chewie growled a bit, speaking his piece as I gave him a look to not give it away. It felt like I was talking to my father again when he was alive some time ago when he figured it out between Poe and me.

"Yeah," I replied simply, Lando thinking about it for a second before he nodded his head.

"I like it," Lando commented, having em grin at him as he pointed me with one of his knowing smirks, "I'll take good care of the ship for you,"

Chewie grumbled in agreement.

"Chewie will make sure of that," I replied, seeing Lando claps Chewie on the back with this in mind, "And Lando…thanks or coming out and helping us. You didn't have to."

"I owed it to your family for all they helped me with throughout the years," Lando answered with a shrug of his shoulders, "And when we win this year and all of this is over, you more than welcome to come to me for anything."

"I appreciate that," I thanked him, "Just make sure my father's Falcon some back in one piece," I turned back around to finish off my check-off list in my X-Wing.

"Don't you mean, your Falcon?" I paused, looking back over my shoulder now to see Lando giving me one more knowing smirk. he then turned on his heels with Chewie right behind him. Chewie gave me one more growl, having em grin as I saw none other than Poe jogging over to me, seeing my interaction with Lando and Chewie.

"Hey," he said to me, standing at the foot of the ladder I was on, "What was that about?"

"Oh, nothing. Lando wanted me to go out with him and Chewie on the Falcon to find others that will help," I explained, seeing him thinking about it like he was trying to act natural about it. I knew that kind of look, something he knew that I didn't. I paused too, raised my eyebrow at him and looked down at him with an amused look, "Poe…I'm taking it you had him ask me to go with him?"

Poe was hesitant, not saying anything now as he was obviously trying not to give it away. I sighed, almost giving my droid a knowing look now since Q2 was stuck there in the one spot on the X-Wing with nowhere else to go. I finally turned all the way around, once again facing out and leaning my back on the X-Wing exterior with his arms crossed and were waiting or him to say something.

"Okay," Poe finally admitted, "I'll admit…given our recent events…and…what I did back there," Poe started to say.

"Mmhmm," I hummed in agreement.

"I'm just…" Poe said, sighing a bit, both not wanting to say it and trying to think about how he wanted to say it in the first place. It made me look at him in a different light, going down a few steps so that he wasn't so far away. I sat on one of the steps, still a bit higher up than him. I rested my elbows on my knees, looking at him with a softness there on my face.

"I think I have to just realize that you're never gonna stop trying to protect me," I commented to the both of us. Poe gave me look, as if I was calling him out and I smiled softly and carefully at him, "And that's what I love about you, among other things. But…with that being said….I know what I'm doing, as crazy as that sounds."

"I know you do," Poe replied immediately as he walked forward the last few steps and he rested his hands on my hands resting on my knees, "And I'll call myself out for not remembering that because you can take care of yourself."

"Which is why what I'm about to ask you maybe be crazy," I said to him, seeing him pause as he was watching me now and I gave me another careful stare. This was another moment that could lead to my demise now as I took in a deep breath, "Poe, when I was there on the Death Star, talking to Ben, he told me that he was going to try and help Rey."

Poe said nothing, having me think that it was a sign for me to keep going with my plan.

"If we are going to go to Exegol, somewhere out there…Rey is there too," I paused, shifting on the ladder step that I was perched on, "I can feel the both of them and the pain that Rey is in. She's going to need help, even with Ben there…"

"You're going to want to go to help?" Poe asked in a suggestion.

"If she needs it," I added quickly, "I'm still going to fly out with the Resistance and help in the fight, but if something does happen and I do need to get to her…you need to promise me to let me go," I could tell he was thinking about it, and since we had our recent fight with him not wanting me to go off and be crazy, this could be a make or break for the both of us.

"Poe," I called to him carefully, seeing him look at me now with the careful hesitance there on his face. I hate seeing that kind of face on him, it made me feel worse than I was once again doing something that was almost crazy and then making Poe beyond worry, "This is going to sound crazy coming from me, and with all the stunts that I pulled since we started that last mission, I know I shouldn't ever be doing anything crazy ever again. But this is…this is different,"

"Different," Poe mimicked me, having me look at him in reassurance as we were lacing our fingers together. I could feel how our fingers were meant to blend in with each other perfectly as if our hands were made for each other.

"I'm a broken message that's playing over and over again," I muttered, slamming my eyes shut and groaning now since it sounded terrible, "I'm doing this whole thing where I'm going out on a limb and making others go crazy with what I'm doing, losing my mom and now soudning insane—"

"Stop, Neyli. Just…stop," I stopped abruptly now, I was going to say more things against my own character. I looked at Poe, seeing him stare at me and I felt him squeeze our fingers. He took in a shaky breath before he spoke once more, "Look I know I messed up back there in the Falcon, and plenty of times before when I would try to keep you safe. But you need to understand that…you're it for me when it comes to my family. Out of all of this and all that I have left….you're it."

"I know, and given the recent events, you're kind of it for me too," I added, seeing the twinge of hurt there on his face since I brought up my mother's death, "If there is any way I can help win this war then I'm going to do it. You know that, right?"

There was a large pregnant pause, and there as once again a line drawn in the sand with us. Poe understood what I was feeling, up to a point, and yet we were still being hard on our own sides. He wanted me to be safe, always safe and always close by. And I knew that I wanted him to be safe too.

"We need to be open with each other about what we do for now on," I explained, pausing for a brief moment now as I went on, "Not that we weren't open before, but now that we're about to go into something serious, we have to be open."

"I agree," Poe agreed with me, having me give him a small smile now since so far the conversation was good, "And I know that you can take care of yourself. So, whatever you think you're gonna have to do out there….I'll support you."

"You will?" I asked, not wanting to sound beyond surprised with how this conversation was going. I could see him nod at me as he was placing his hands away from my fingers and back on the top of my legs, almost like he was balancing himself.

"I trust you with whatever it is you'll need to do," He said to me some more, then pausing and licking his lips before he went on, "I only ask you to just do one thing for me."

"Anything," I vowed to him since it felt like I was asking far too much for him to trust me to go out on my own and not have him worry about me. He even looked away for a brief second to collect his thoughts before he locked eyes with me. I could tell he was bare with me, and now I was scared about what he was going to tell me.

"Just come back to me in one piece," It made me sad that he had to tell me that, and yet my own heart was tugging hard for him. This was hard for him, to let me go and figure it out on my own. We needed a break after this, after all of this was over, and we both felt it. We both knew what we had to do, and if it meant both of us splitting apart from each other for moments, then it had to be done.

I leaned over, feeling like I was trying not to fall off the ladder, and I kissed him squarely on the lips. I held onto one of the handles of the ladder to balance myself, feeling the necklaces around my neck with Poe's mother's ring dangling in the air as we felt it there. My other hadn't was reaching into his hair, not wanting got move at all at that moment. I could even feel Poe reaching up to grab the ring that was dangling in the air between his fingers to not just ground himself there, but maybe to hold me in once piece. His other hand landed on top of my own on the handrail, holding onto my own tightly.

He pressed one more kiss against my lips, sealing it there with our promise that we just made. I knew we were getting sappy with all that was going on, I was never one to kiss Poe out in the open. Poe was fine with it, I was a bit more paranoid with how others would see us. But given recent events, and with all, we had left in our favor that could be taken away within moments, I didn't care anymore. All I cared about was Poe.

I loved him too much.

I finally pulled away, but barely moving away so I can look at him dead in the eyes. He was the General, he had plenty of people to look to him for support and guidance, and he was going to need all the help he could get.

"I'm coming back to you in one piece," I reassured him softly as our voices were so low only we could hear each other, "I'll fight with you out there every step of the way, and if something does happen, I'll tell you,"

"You better," Poe commented back in a harsh whisper, almost afraid to let me go now. I grinned at him.

"I always come back to you," I reminded him, "And you always come back to me. This isn't going to be the end of us, I swear to you." He nodded, letting in settle in now within himself. I knew what I had to do, and Poe knew what we had to do as well. So we both knew what we were coming to fight for and come back to for the rest of our lives. If this meant that I would have to do something crazy and out of my mind to make this right, to end this war, then I would have to do it.

* * *

The coordinates to Exegol was chaotic, but I was sticking close to Poe as he was elating the way in his Black X-Wing. I was taping a few buttons within my cockpit, my help fitting snug on my head as the flashes of red and range were going past us while we were weaving our way through the massive clouds and debris hanging high in the air. Finn was in another ship with Janna accompanying him, the rest of the Resistance in their X-Wings and ships coming along. We were all ready for what was to come and what could be waiting for us.

As we were getting closer and closer to the precise destination, I could feel the inner tug towards both Rey and Ben. They were close, I could sense it, especially Rey since it seemed like she was already there. She had to be since she sent the coordinates, but that also meant that she could be in some real danger. I tried to find the energy that would show me if she was, but nothing yet. There was anger, some pain, but nothing of fear.

Not yet.

We broke through and we finally made it too Exegol. I looked up in horror, seeing the vast change of colors and mood. Getting into Exegol was bright and vibrant and chaotic, but now it was dark, low, and brooding. Everything as dark, lightning from the top of the atmosphere was shooting down to give it some light from the darkness of the area. But what got us the most, what left my breath now, was the vast numbers of Star Destroyers sitting in the air not moving and threatening. There had to be hundreds, if not thousands, all in near rows and hovering above us as we broke into the atmosphere.

"Look at those star destroyers."

"There's so many of them."

"Neyli, are you seeing this?" Jencon asked me in the intercom as I was looking at the scene in front of us with shock and with an open mouth.

"Yeah, I see them," I said in a grim tone, but the infamous sound fo TIE fighters filling the air as I looked dead ahead to see hundreds of them coming our way at high speeds. The battle was about to begin as I gripped the handles on my X-Wing and I cleared my throat.

"Guys, we have company!" I said to the others as I tapped to get the weapons out and ready. We were all here for the same purpose, to end this and have the rest of our lives be lived out in peace and not under the First Order. Poe spoke into the intercom as well, having all of us be ready for what was going to come our way.

"Welcome to Exegol!"


	15. Chapter 15

I took a sweeping dive down as the first TIE fighter was coming after me head-on.

I swerved to the right, trying to get if off my tail long enough so that I could find a maneuver to get rid of him. The others were in the same boat too, these TIE fighters were fierce compared to the time before. I could tell they wanted to kill us, maybe because knew where their star destroyers were being held and this was a matter of seconds. We were in for a real dogfight this time, I could feel it behind my hands and behind my neck, as I was dived and dodging other fights and pilots there were doing the same thing as me.

"Gotcha!" I said as I shot down one TIE fighter that was trying to get me from the side, but as soon as I shouted that victory, another TIE fighter was shooting at me hard, having me once again go into fi=light more and try got find a moment to get another one off my tail. The skies were filled with TIE fighters, ships from the Resistance, and X-Wing pilots and they were all melting together in a mess of blasters and a blazing fire. I swooped down for a brief moment to see if I could find some kind of tower that Finn told us about from the D-O device, but since everything else was moving around us and making it too chaotic to look at once spot, it was harder than I thought it was going to be.

"We need to get these guys away from the tower so we can get the ground team ready!" I heard in the intercom. I loved past another bunch of TIE fighters, I could see one of the ships that had both Finn and Janna lower down on one of the main destroyers, along the surface and I could tell they found the tower to start the second part of the plan.

"Make sure no one touches the ship as it lands, we need to buy them time," I informed the Resistance group in my intercom, 'We need to buy them time so they get to that tower and destroy it."

"We're way ahead of you, Neyli." I heard Jencon's voice on the intercom, "We're ready with the ground team."

"Didn't know you were in the ground team, Jencon," I said to him in a casual grin as I got another TIE fighter shot down before dodged another near shot on my right.

"Figured they needed some more help down here and you guys have it all taken care of in the sky," Jencon reassured me as I could hear their ship landing in the background, "Don't worry, Captain. We have it handled from here."

'We'll take care of it," Poe said on his line, having me grin as I saw his Black X-Wing fly through the sky with his TIE fighters to deal with, "You guys take care of that tower.'

"You got it, General," Jencon answered back to him.

"How are we doing up here, Neyli?" Poe asked me as I narrowly dodged another blast from TIE to my left.

"So far, we're flying around like it's our first time in an X-Wing," I said truthfully, "These guys really don't want us to touch that tower,"

"No kidding," Poe commented back as I could see him taking out one TIE fighter on his own on my left, "As long as we buy them time, then we have a chance."

"Not gonna lie to you, there's way too many of them, and one of those Destroyers could be active and take a bunch of us all at once," I advised him, "Let's push it and make this go faster before we lose any more of our own." I was right when it came to these fighters, there were may more of them than there were any of us. This was going to be beyond tricky, and almost on the brink of pure death for us, and yet here we were.

Of course, after flying for mere minutes in the haze of a battlefield in the sky, I felt the Force Energy now within my chest, knowing that something intense was happening below me on the surface of the planet. I was still trying to concentrate there amongst the flying ships and fighters, but that tug was getting violent and threatening to me since it was getting worse and worse with the seconds going by.

It was Rey. I knew she was already down there and she was somewhere that was not safe at all. it was dangerous where she was, surrounded by something dark and almost sadistic. I felt the Darkness around there, almost like the Dark Side of the Force was seeping through the holes that were left open.

I cringed in the cockpit, taking in a shaky breath since the Dark Side was indeed here on the planet. It was trying to be contagious and spread out like veins within the area. I tried to focus back on Rey, but her own Force Energy was almost being thrown over by the Dark Side as if the Dark Side was trying to mask and hide her won't Energy from me. Maybe it was, but then again I knew we were all here to defeat the First Order.

But then, I felt another energy shift in the air, and I felt my breath leave me. Ben, Ben was there on the surface like Rey. His Energy shocked me though, having me almost lose my grip on my handles. His energy was different from before, way different, almost a complete 180 degrees from what it was in the past. I couldn't feel or sense any Dark Side within him anymore, having me realize that it slipped out of him when I left him. Even then it was better from him being all Dark Side, it must have been some kind of process for him to go through.

Ben….Ben, can you hear me?

I didn't get a response from him as I dodged another set of attacks in front of me, shooting down one more TIE fighter before I made a major swoop around the area to see if there was some kind of sign from him. This was now scaring me since if Ben was down there, he too could be in trouble. There was in Dark Side of him anymore, but who knew if he was once again vulnerable to it since he recently just came out of it. Anyone could be vulnerable to the Dark Side if it was close and tempting enough, I learned that from my Uncle. With this magnitude of it all over the planet, even Rey and I could be tempted into it.

**Neyli…**

Ben! Where are you?

**Rey's in trouble. I need to get to her…**

There was nothing else said, but he sounded desperate. I did what I knew was risky, and though I promised Poe to be careful, somewhere deep within the pits of my soul and stomach I felt the need to help him. So I made my choice.

"Poe, can you hear me?" I asked in the intercom, getting my X-Wing lower to the ground and seeing the Star Destroyers getting bigger all around me.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Poe asked, having me hear him grunt and shoot some of his blasters. I took in a breath now as I knew this could go from bad to worse.

"Remember how we had that talk about trusting me with any decision I'll make?" I asked, hearing nothing from his end for a few quick seconds, "Well, this is one of those times. And since we talked of coming back none piece, I promise to do the same thing right now. You need to trust me on this one."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Poe asked, almost sounding a bit out of it from what I was telling him. I cringed inwardly now as I was seeing the dark surface right below me.

"Poe, Rey and Ben need help. There's something down there, it's dangerous and Rey's in the vulnerable state," I explained to him.

"Neyli, wait for a second on this one, please—" Poe tried to talk me out of it now but I knew I was pushing it from not going down there sooner.

"Poe," I said his name once, no longer hearing anything on his end since I made it quieter, "I know what I am about to do, and I can do it. Trust me on this one, please." It was sounding desperate on my end, but this was the last attempt of me trying to convince him to let me do what I need to do to help end this.

"You know I trust you, Neyli," Poe said to me in a reminder, taking a shaky breath as I felt like I was waiting to hear one more thing from him. Maybe I was, and yet it almost felt like every time we would talk about this I was almost drawing him out to say what I what him to say.

"Remember what you promised," Poe reminded me, having me feel as though I was about to hop off the deep end now. He even sounded sure and true about it, having me nod my head knowing that he wasn't going to be able to see it.

"I'm gonna keep that promise, Dameron," I replied to him as I dived my X-Wing down and was aiming to find something there along the surface. There was a large mass structure, it almost resembled a building that was dark and ancient-looking, showing no sense of a soul or warmth there. It was almost terrifying to seeing as I got closer and closer to the ground.

A bit away from the structure, landed right on the top of the dusty and rigid surface, there was a ship, there was already parked. I could see that it was a TIE fighter, having me eventually find a spot next to that one and land there with hesitance. Once I popped the top of the X-Wing open, I felt the wind whipping around me and almost sounding like howling animals. Lightning was striking everywhere along the surface, making the flashes of light almost unbearable to try and see.

Q2 chirped at me frantically now as I was taking off my helmet and placing it on the seat.

"I know what I'm doing, Q2. I need you to keep in contact with R2-D2 in Poe's X-Wing in case something happens," I said to the droid as I stood up completely, trying to get my bearings on where I was and where I needed to go. I stripped off the Resistance Pilot jumpsuit, being in my regular clothes and I grabbed my saber that I tucked in the cockpit to but in my holster. I hesitated to get my father's blaster because if there was one thing I wanted left thing if anything were to happen to me, I would want it to be his blaster.

"Keep this safe for me," I advised the Droid as I was about to hop out of the ship and land on my feet on the rigid ground, pausing before I did and I looked back at my beloved droid. This droid was with me all this time since the moment it was given to me as a Resistance pilot. There was no other loyal droid just as personal to me as Q2, and now I was once again leaving him behind, "I'll come back."

Q2 beeped back at me, almost in a sad tone now as I gave him a reassuring now.

"I promise," I said to him, then gripping the edge of the X-Wing. I launched myself over, failing for a brief moment before I landed on my feet there along the surface. Several more lightning strikes hit the ground as I could see the mass structure in front of me I took in a shallow breath, instantly remembering the dream that I had some time ago back before we were trying to find the Wayfinder. It was dark, just like now, the wind picking up around me, and I thought I saw someone there too. It was Ben, but in my dream, he had his cape and his saber out at the ready.

But this time, it was once again Benn.

He was stripped down in black pants and a black sweater, a blaster in hand now as he was bolting towards the structure. I knew this, I saw it before. But this was different too, and I could feel the tug he had within him as he was running full speed now, not even seeing him since his ship was parked a bit farther away. Maybe he meant not to see me, he was focusing on helping Rey, or maybe he just didn't see me in general.

"Ben," I softly called to him, already starting to run after him though he was already way too far away from me for me to catch up to him. But I was determined, seeing closer and closer to the structure now as Ben was almost disappearing into the darkness. Above me, though the sounds of the winds and the lightning strikes, I could hear the battle raging on and the blasts coming from high in the air. It made me worry about the others, and yet I was down here on my own.

Literally on my own.

The small opening at the bottom of the structure was small enough for me to run through and try to avoid slamming my head up, but I was still going as fast as I could to follow Ben and see where he went. I could see far off in the distance that there was some kind of opening in the ground where Ben was, having me watching him jump and fall through the opening that seemed to resemble a hole. I sprinted now, in hopes that I would lose him if he was going in a direction where I couldn't follow. As soon as it was close enough, I stopped abruptly and I looked down, seeing that it was a fall itself was a bit much for any else. But I knew I could make it on my own with no help. I then heard a blast coming from down there, one blaster blast as I got nervous.

It might have been Ben.

I finally jumped, seeing a massive chain with each link the size of my own body over at the side. I slid down what looked to be a massive chain with my feet before I jumped off and landed on my feet in the lower level. It was darker, envier with the aurora of darkness all over, and what looked like high pillars and status. I didn't know any of them were, but they looked ancient and menacing, being so high up and the lightning strikes making it worse. But then I heard more movement over to the left, having me now take out my saber off my hip and held it in my hands as I started to run towards the sound.

In front of me to the side was one body already dead on the ground, I noticed it as I was running by it was a blast wound to the chest. I turned the corner at another massive opening, seeing another being on the ground dead right behind me some ways away. But then I was skidding to a halt now, seeing what looked like am ambush happening some way away in the opening.

6 beings, all dressed in black armor and with various black weapons, were making a circle around Ben right in the middle. He was holding one blaster at his side, waiting for them to make some kind of move as he was so still and so precise. My heart lurched, seeing the size of these beings around him and they made him look so small. For a brief moment, I was frozen now as one of them dove to get him, he was trying to outmatch them all and fight them, but by the time I was getting my head together he was beaten down to his knees in the middle and the others were wielding their weapons ready to kill him off.

I had to act.

Taking a deep breath, I ran over to the side larger wall, scaling the side of it with my feet and then kicking off to fly high in the air, aiming to land right there with Ben in the middle. I threw out one hand, seeing one of them fly up and slam to a hard left into the wall with a grunt. The others looked confused, thinking that it was Ben, who was almost confused. But he looked up just in time for me to land right next to him and stay crouched low with him by my side.

I looked over at Ben briefly, seeing him look at me both in shock and amazement. Blood and grim were on his face, but in comparison to before, when he was still in the Dark Side, now he looked ever lighter. I saw it in his eyes, the color back on his face and cheeks, he was back to being Ben Solo. We locked eyes with each other, having me give him one single nod.

Ben had his hands behind his back now as he was now looking dead ahead as if he had something hidden up his sleeve as I clicked on my lightsaber, both ends blazing in energy and power. Out of nowhere from behind Ben's back, Uncle Luke saber appeared within his hand and he was in his own ready stance. The only person I knew would have Uncle Luke's saber was, in fact, Rey.

She sent that to Ben.

We instantly fought them, I went off on two of them as Ben took on three at the same time. They were strong, that I could give them credit for, but we were after and we knew how to fight thanks out training. I was light on my feet as I dodged one blaster and struck down another being that almost got me against the wall. Ben was doing just fine on his own, launching off the wall with his own feet and then taking down two at the same time as I threw out my saber to strike down my opponent before I drew it back with the use of The Force.

One, in particular, was sparing with me and almost got me pinned down with his foot. But I grasped the middle of my duel saber, twisting the handle in one fluid movement as the dueling saber became two separate sabers. I grinned, wielding two sabers how in a tint of yellow and I struck back with both of the sabers, having him keel over in a heap now.

Within a minute or two, we won.

Ben and I breathe heavily now, holding our sabers in a death grip. and staring at the bodies around us. I took in a deep rebate, bringing in the ends of my two sabers back to the middle and clicking it back in place before I clicked one side shut. I then moved my hair from my eyes, trying to re-channeling my energy and breathing now as I heard a movement of steps.

"Neyli..." I heard him say my name, right next to me now and no longer in my head. I froze, my saber still in my hand and out on one side now as I was seeing him out of the corner of my eye now look at me with curiosity. There was no more hate on his face, nor was there any in his eyes. Finally, I looked over at him now, seeing him stand right in front of me with Uncle Luke's saber within his hand too, breathing heavily from our recent battle. It took us a few long moments now before we both clicked out sabers shut and faced once another.

He instantly ran over to me and we hugged.

It was a soothing sensation that I was feeling from embracing my twin brother again. It felt two lost pieces were melding back together since we were once reunited and not wanting to let the other go. I sighed in relief as we were clutching each other, both of sabers in our dominant hands and the other hands were wrapped in one another. I waited all this time to e next to my bother again, and it was a beautiful moment that we were sharing.

"I told you I would come back for you," I said to him as a reminder, hearing nothing from him for a moment or so before we pulled away from each other and I gave him a serious look, "I thought I lost you once and I won't lose you again. I'm here until the end, whatever it takes."

Ben nodded his head, reaching down to clench out hands together. His black-gloved hand in my gloveless tan ones, the both go us agreeing now as we knew what we needed to do next.

"Let's help Rey."


	16. Chapter 16

"What is this place?"

"Nothing good,"

"So…it's infested with the Dark Side?"

"Worse,"

"Oh…worse."

We were walking side by side, our sabers out and ready for any kind of attack that could come next to us. After we met up finally there among the surface, we both were determined to help Rey since she was going to face Palpatine alone. The recent news of hearing that she was the Granddaughter of Palpatine, it made the situation way worse focus to at least digest. But now, all I was focusing on was Rey and making sure she was going to stay alive.

"This place is evil," I muttered, feeling the energy that was rooted in evil and seeping with death all around me.

"It's a Sith planet, past Siths were born here," Ben explained as he was looking dead ahead now, having me almost gulp now as we both were keeping up in our determined pace.

"That does make sense," I commented now, knowing the tit was all making sense and coming together in my brain. But now that we were going to come head-on with what would be our biggest foe, a powerful one, I felt as though I had to be brave. There was no room for any kind of fear, and yet I was going up against someone who not only converted my grandfather to the dark side, but he tried with my Uncle and bring the Rebellion Alliance to its knees against the Empire. He was vicious, he as dangerous and he was so close to taking out my whole family in one swipe.

And yet, the last two Skywalker offspring about to end it with Palpatine's granddaughter.

"What you need to know is that he's dangerous," Ben advised as we I was mostly following him deeper and deeper in the depth fo this place, keeping up with his pace as I was watching his every move with how his eyes were dead head and his stance was tense, ready to fight, "I saw that before you and the others were trying to find the Wayfinder to get here, and he tried to get me too,"

"Rey found out from Uncle Luke," I explained, "Uncle Luke was trying to find Palpatine and finish him off too, but he never made it there."

"We're gonna end it," Ben reassured me, the voice was still stern and good, "The three of us will."

"You sound so sure," I commented, seeing him not say anything now as we heard some commotion ahead of us. I threw out my hand to stop Ben, grasping him on the arm now as he looked over at me. Then both of us knew, we both felt it now as we knew what was going on in front of us.

"Rey," I said in an unsure tone, Ben giving me a look too. He felt it, Rey was on her own and she was fighting too. Ben gripped his saber tight, then as soon as I released his arm from my hand, he started to run. I was right behind him ad we soon as turned the corner, we both were skidding to a halt.

There was a large massive room, almost like a dome with what seemed to be a large set of black-clothed beings, maybe thousands of them, sitting tone side high up in almost a sloped manner. On the other side were what seemed to be guards dressed in red, all surrounding Rey as she was alone in the middle. One last thing I saw, all the way to the right and alone there, was a hooded figure who was watching with an intense gaze. He was attached to something from behind, almost like a machine holding him up and it was attached to something that I couldn't see far behind him in the darkness.

I knew who he was, but I was focused on Rey.

She was fine on her own, taking out the red guards one by one with her own saber in hand as each of them was falling to her in defeat. This place was filled with evil, I could sense it now as Rey was on her own in the middle of the massive room when I saw Ben next to me spring into action. I watched as he threw out his hands have one of the blasts that were about to hit Rey bounced back and hit him, having him fall to the floor.

There was a stunned silence.

Ben and Rey looked at each other, the look of the dead bodies around us and how they were locking eyes with each other made everything else seem like it wasn't in existence. Ben looked at me briefly before we could walk over, placing his hand on my arm to stop me from going on.

"Stay here," he said to me, then walking over to Rey and leaving me behind me. I wanted to go with him, but it felt like he truly wanted me to wait and see what was going to happen. So I stood there, my saber in my hand and seeing my brother walk over to look at Rey briefly. They locked eyes then standing right in front of Palpatine. He was standing there in the middle, watching all of this unfold in front of us with almost a sickening smirk on his face.

Ben and Rey drew up their sabers, ready in defense now as I was standing so still. I could tell who he was, which was an odd feeling to have since I never met him or encountered him before. But just in the way he was there, in this place of all places, I could feel the hate and the darkness surrounding him. It was like a disease and sickness that was trying to seep through every inch of space there in the walls of this room. My gut was telling me that something was wrong with this: that something terrible was about to happen.

_Instincts…Neyli…trust them._

"Stand together, die together!" He growled, throwing his hand out at both of them. Both Ben and Rey went still and stiff as a board, they were raised and hovered in the air as if they were trapped within some kind of hold from Palpatine as their saber fell from their hands and clicked off, rolling away from them. They were flying towards him, pulled to their knees on the ground as they couldn't move a finger in front of Palpatine, who's hand was raised to them. Lightning struck from the pair fo them over to him now, and he seemed shocked.

I took a hesitant step forward, seeing that they both were at his mercy and I gripped my handle hard. Ben wanted me safe, and yet they were so close to death that it scared me to my core. My instinct was going on overdrive suddenly, having em dig my heel in.

_Protect them..you must protect them._

"The life-force of you bond a power like life itself, a dialect in The Force…..unseen for generations, and now the power of two restores the one…true emperor." He growled, having me instantly both out in a run over to him. I knew this was crazy, I knew this was insane, and I knew this could mean I was going to die if I was going to stand in front of him. But this could not be the end of what we fought for, what plenty of people died for, and I wasn't going to let it be so.

I jumped high up, soaring through the dense air wih a abttel cry coming from me as I landed right in front of Ben and Rey, blocking them from Palpatine now as the first lightning bolt was about to strike. I blocked it with my Saber, seeing it disappear now from my quick action and Palpatine looked shocked to see me. I kept my stance fierce in front fo him, getting both sides of my saber out and drawn as he was now watching me, no longer focusing on Rey and Ben.

They were still locked in the Force as Palpatine was now seeing me with his gaze of evil. I didn't care if I was being suicidal at this point, but somewhere deep down I was scared of being in front of him. My duel saber that was lit on both sides was raised above my head to be ready for anything he was going to do.

"You," he said suddenly over to me, having me shift very slightly in my stance there as the grip on my handle was tightening, "The last Skywalker…..your brother wanted to keep me from you, having me think you were dead all this time. So much light in you….I can feel it," He said that last part in a sickening manner, having me twist the handle to turn my duel lightsaber into two sabers, going hand in hand now since I could feel the threat coming fast.

"Let's snuff it out of you."

He threw out his hand, lightning power was thrust out at me as I drew my saber to criss-cross in front of me and block the strike. I almost flew back, my feet scraping on the ground as I was feeling the instant pressure of his lightning strike against the saber. I felt strong energy trying to hit me hard, but with all my might I was pushing with my own energy against my sabers to go up against him. It was hard though, even with all my strength there, it could feel at any moment that he could snap me into if he tried.

I tried to dig my heel to make sure I wasn't going to go anywhere now, but I could feel my sense of strength starting to diminish. I knew I had to dig deeper, somehow digging farther winging my self and with all the energy that I learned to use in the past in order not to fail or falter. Maybe this was some kind of test for me, something that I should have known what to do. I was holding it for so long, feeling the energy slowly slip inch by inch with every second passing by and his strength getting pushed on me harder and harder. I thought back on those who needed me, those who were fighting for us above in the sky, and those who left me behind.

I fought for them.

I grunted, shoving the lightening that was piercing my sabers that were close to my body and it bounced back to hit Palpatine hard. He cried out, the lightening vanishing now as I was frozen there, breathing heavily and watching his every move now in case something else was going to happen. He as frozen in shock from what I did.

"Enough of this," He growled, shooting out both of his hands now before I was even ready to defend myself. The lightning hit me hard, having me fly backward and feeling the light sucking the life out fo me as I slammed to the floor and my head almost bounced off the ground. My saber rolled out fo my hands now as I was now motionless not he ground, looking sideways at the scene now. Both Rey and Ben looking down at me in shock and horror now as I felt my vision going darker and darker.

"NEYLI!" Rey screamed as I was finally blacking out, hearing Ben yell out in ager was everything around me went dark and cold.

* * *

I was awake, but I was in an area of white, nothing else around me or near me. It was quiet and pristine, in which I thought I was moving on from my body were on the floor to somewhere that should resemble the afterlife. Did I go into the afterlife? Did the Jedi believe in the Afterlife? I forgot, but I was still looking around confused. I wasn't in any more pain, I wasn't there in the cold on the ground with barely any once of the energy of life back in me, I was…..maybe I was in limbo.

_"You're so close to succeeding…"_

It felt like I knew that voice, I had to have known that voice. But it also sounded distant, like they were in several rooms not too far away.

_"Don't give up now, Neyli…."_

Another voice, closer and bit more distinct now as I was standing so still, hoping to find the source of the voices that were around me and almost engulfing me. It was getting more confusing as I was trying to control my breathing that was getting faster and faster with nervousness and fear. But finally, I turned on my heel and I saw a figure right in front of me, having me take a step back now as I was looking at the figure up and down now to see who it was. He was older, but as not older than me and not too old as he was dressed in Jedi robes, hair pushed to the side and almost long to his ears. He looked at me with peace on his face now.

"Do I know you?" I asked him, my voice echoing in whatever kind of room that I was in, or was I in a room? He smiled, that smiled almost seemed familiar to me as he was staring at me with almost adoration and kindness there.

"No, but I'm a part of you," he replied, his voice soothing and deep. Once again it felt like I knew him, really knew him as I tilted my head at him now, "But others are a part of you, part of your Jedi Path."

"Am…I dead?" I asked, fearing the worst now since it might be the case.

"Not yet," Another figure said to me to my left, dressed in the same kind of Jedi robes that were in different shades of brown, but he was much older than I was and his hair was down to his shoulders, moved away from his eyes that seemed to have shown wisdom and philosophy behind them, "The path you chose, however, can save you and others if need be."

"The path I chose?" I asked in question now as a third person was no slight to my left, next to the long-haired Jedi, this one seemed much much older with white hair and a white small beard. He looked poised there next to the other two, and yet he almost seemed relaxed where he was.

"Your path brought you here," He explained, his voice was almost like a breath and cooling, "Like all the paths before you: You were brought here to make a choice."

"What choice?" I asked, facing him now and wanting to find out more and more what was going on. But the last person I saw coming in out of nowhere made me almost falter a bit now as I was shocked to see him. He grinned at me, the familiar face I knew and never thought I was going to see again.

Uncle Luke.

"The choice that all Jedi have to face: what is Good and what is Evil," He said to me, having me sigh almost in defat from hearing his voice again.

"Uncle Luke…." I trailed off, walking over to him a bit as he was standing next to the first Jedi that appeared to me "I don't know what to do, or if I made the right choice in what I did," He chuckled when I said this.

"You're hesitant in your choices," he said in agreement now, pausing a second before he kept talking, "Sorry to say that's a family trait," The Jedi next to him, the younger one, chuckled from the joke now as I was still focusing on Uncle Luke, "But Neyli, out of all the Padawans I have ever taught, you are one made of light. It's rare."

"That light is important," The middle Jedi said to me in agreement now as he spoke up, "The light in The Force is what drives the Dark Side to its knees. it takes a great deal fo strength and heart to be one with the Light."

"But…I didn't do anything," I said in a sorrowful tone to the group of Jedi and my Uncle Luke, "I tried to stop him, but he…"

"He only believed he succeeded in killing you, killing off the Jedi," The eldest Jedi explained, "That is why you're here. All Jedi are connected, they always have been one way or another. We are connected to you, as we are in Rey."

"Rey…" I trailed off, already thinking of my friend now as I was trying to feel her energy as I did in the past. But now it was weak, beyond weak, like someone sucked it out of her and it made me cringe. Was that Palpatine? I looked at Uncle Luke in horror.

"She's weak," I explained, walking over to him in a bit," She's so weak…"

"We need to help her." Uncle Luke explained.

"How?" I asked earnestly.

"We communicate with her, we become one with her and bring back the strength that only the Jed could do," He explained, having me think that it was not possible. I did remember at a time that she was trying to summon the other Jedi from the past, maybe these very people, to be with her and be one with her. It was rare for a living Jedi to do and succeed in, and now we were attempting to do it again.

"I want to help," I said to him, already thinking it over in my head now.

"It'll take all of the rest of you strength," The youngest Jedi warned, almost looking sad since I made my choice.

"You might not live after this," The middle Jedi added in agreement. I nodded, having it slowly seep over me now as I was taking in a shallow breath. This meant that I could permanently die, leaving all that I had behind to see one person that could stop everything evil coming through the Galaxy. Was this all that I was meant for, to be a mere sacrifice? Was this how it was supposed to end with me? Why as I okay with this, when I knew that this was the best thing.

But then, I thought of Poe.

I promised to come back to him, I promised to marry him, and I promised to live the rest of my life with him. He was the one constant in all of this mass chaos, even through the fits and fights, he was staying right next to me and not moving away. It was selfish of me to do this and leaving him behind, and no longer have the chance to love him unconditionally, he did deserve it. Now, once again, I was feeling my heartbreak from leaving him behind one more time.

"Reach out to Rey, push her Light into her and have her feel it, bring her strength," Uncle Luke encouraged me as I was looking at him in hesitance now, "You're a Skywalker, you have the strength of all Skywalkers before you: from your mother, from me, and your grandfather," He asked before he looked over to the younger Jedi, who locked eyes with me. My eyes went wide-eyed in shock, suddenly knowing exactly who he was. The blurry vision of all that I knew and heard about him in the past was now coming to light.

"Anakin Skywalker?" I asked him in a whisper, seeing him say nothing now but I felt it.

"Focus Neyli." Uncle Luke said to me, bringing me back to the present in front of him. I nodded, closing my eyes in taking out a deep breath before everything was insanely dark.

* * *

I was no longer there in the room. The whiteness was gone, and I was suddenly cold. I was back in that dome room, the darkness was around me now as I was looking at the view sideways. I was on my side, my whole body as paralyzed and I was stuck there on the ground. Ben was nowhere to be seen, which made me panic. Where was Ben?

Palpatine had his hands up in the sky, lightening tenfold from before were being flown from his fingers into the sky, having me roll my head up to see the scene above me. The top of the dome was open, having me see the mass battle above all of the dome as the sky was lit up with the lightning hitting all of the ships. There were way more ships now, big and small for the Resistance. But something was wrong, I could see them all descending slowly, the lightening stopping them from going around, making me look in horror. Palpatine was bringing the Resistance down slowly and surely to their deaths.

Rey was on her back a bit away from me, looking up into the sky too and see what I was seeing. I rolled my head over back in Rey's direction now seeing her stay so still as I knew what I had to do. What I felt back there, in whatever state of limbo that I was in. I took in a few deep breaths, trying to find the small slimmer of energy that was left in her.

I pushed my own energy in her.

I am with you Rey….you have me behind me. Rise Rey….rise up….

Reaching up with my bloody hand, I was aiming my hadn't to Rey in earnest as I was trying so hard to get my energy to her. But in the process, I was feeling my own energy slipping now as I was trying to get Rey's energy back up. I was doing this to the Jedi before me that new long gone, that tried to bring balance back to the galaxy. I was doing this for the Resistance that fought for all of us to do this in peace.

Come on, Rey. Get up…you need to get up and end him.

My parents were not going to be dying in vain from what I was doing, and how I was getting weaker and weaker now as Rey was slowing rising and rolling on her sides tog et up, grunting along the way. I thought of my father and his love for me, my mother and her drive for me to be the best fighter, for Ben who was my long lost brother that I needed the most.

And for Poe, God I loved him and here I was, dying.

I am with you Rey...I am….

I saw her finally get up from the ground, her saber that was once so far away flew back to her hand as she was facing Palpatine once again. I breathed out one last breath, seeing that what I needed to do was done. I lowered my hand and my head rolled back onto the ground, looking up at the sky and no longer seeing the lightening hitting the ships. In fact, they were rising back up and I saw some of the Star Destroyers going into flames. Smiling, my eyes slipped closed with the last images of the ships in the sky in my head.

I am with you Rey..I am….

I closed my eyes and blacked out again.


	17. Chapter 17

It felt like I was floating.

Things were flashing in and out, bright and then dark, but I was warm all over. I didn't know where I was and if I was still alive, but all I saw was the sky lit up with ships and stars, flames of beams going around me as I was slowly going to sleep, it felt like I was going to sleep.

Was I asleep?

Voices were heard floating in and out of me now as I couldn't move or feel anything, but it felt like I knew those voices. They felt and seemed familiar as if I was having another dream or a dream in a dream. It was odd, and because I couldn't move or talk, it felt like I was going along some kind of journey.

_"Neyli….don't let go just yet."_

_"We've got you Neyli…concentrate."_

_"You're safe…you're safe and sound."_

I felt something flicker within me, almost like the small spark was igniting and trying to get bigger and bigger. The light then as trying to get bigger, having me hear not too far away deep breaths, deep and good breaths. Almost like they were concentrating.

Visions were coming through my line of last, or lack of line of sight. It was like I was seeing the past, the images of people I knew and how they were watching me. I saw my father looking at me with a smirk, his infamous smirk, then it flashed to my mother with her kind smile that was big and pure, the same way she would smile at me as a child.

Maybe this was going to be the real end.

_"You're strong, Neyli. Find the light and run to it."_

_"Concentrate, find the breathing and mirror it."_

_"He's saving you…concentrate on him."_

Who was saving me? I felt so lost, but that small flicker of light was almost getting bigger, and yet it was still small and fragile.

More flashes were coming through now as I was seeing other moments coming into view. One was of me as a child, playing with Ben on the Planet Naboo through the large grassy fields. Another one flashed, my first day training with Uncle Luke as a Jedi. A third image was of me being older, crying over the thought that I lost my brother.

Oh…oh Ben.

Something was stirring within me, it was coming through slowly and carefully as I was trying to find a way to search for it. The warmth around me was getting more vibrant with every second going by, the breathing I was hearing was almost coming clearer and crisper.

_Neyli….come back to me….hear my breathing…._

I knew that voice, it made me try to find it within me more now as that voice sounded desperate and yet demanding. Ben…Ben was talking to me somehow, trying to get me to wake up. There was no way for me to move anything since I still had no idea where I was and how to get back to where I needed to be. But then it felt more and more like my out of body experience was slowly coming back into place. I was trying to concentrate on his breath, on how the small flicker was getting bigger and bolder.

More images were coming through, one of me starting my training as a Resistance Pilot. Another Resistance memory was of me meeting Poe for the first time. That triggered something, a set of flickering images were coming through without me realizing it and I was watching it all unfold in front of me. Poe and I meeting late in the night, kissing for the first time under the Force Sensitive Tree at his home, it was all coming back. All fo what we did together, including just recently, was making me feel the warmth and some familiarity.

I started to sync with his breath, the smaller piece of warmth was now coming back to me now as the vision in front of me was no longer dark, but it was getting lighter slowly. I wasn't anywhere, but it felt like I was going back from the darkness and into the light. It almost felt like I was coming up form being underneath the water for far too long, all of my sense being blurred and how waking back up.

_Please Neyli….don't leave me like this….please come back to me…._

I finally felt myself take in a breath, though it was hard to do at first. That energy from Ben was working wonders, and yet I had no idea how it was doing it. I could feel my own eyes flutter a bit now as I took another breath and I could finally almost move.

I opened my eyes, seeing the sky above me with smoke rising in the darkness. I was fluttering with my eyes, no knowing where to look first. But I saw two people look gin down right at me from above, both of the looking beyond relieved at the same time. I was relieved to see them, let alone being alive again from a moment I thought I was going to be dead.

First, I saw Rey. She was looking sweaty and a small amount of blood there on her face. But she was alive, and here I thought she was dead from what happened with her and Palpatine. Did she kill him? She grinned at me, tears were in her eyes.

But the second person I could see there made my heartbreak as we were looking at each other with locked eyes. Ben, who's arm was underneath me to cradle my body next to his, and his other hand was on my neck. I smiled very softly at him as he was grinning at me, and yet something else felt off with him.

"Ben…" I said, my voice was really hoarse and almost unbearable to use now.

"it's…" he stopped, almost like he didn't want to say more to me but his bit his tongue. Even his voice sounded off as he looked back at me, "Neyli it's okay."

I nodded, though I didn't know why I was agreeing with him when I did this. I looked at him now in confusion since something else was going on there within his face, within his body. It was like he was the one who was now trying to hold on, using all his strength. It then made me realize what he did. I looked at him in shock, Rey was looking away now since she felt like I tuned in. I was beyond shocked and mortified that he did this, and I felt it all this time without realizing it. It was Ben that was trying to bring me back to life but in the sacrifice of his own life.

I slowly got up, mostly with Ben's help and we were sitting there side by side and facing each other. it was still dark, but there was rubble all around us. We were all covered in a thin line of dust and sweat, I looked down at my body to see most of the damage. It was quiet in the sky, having em think that the rest of the Resistance ships already left to go back to base, and we were the last one there. Were they all okay? Did they all make it out alive?

I had a wound along my arm, blood was scabbing over on my forearm and I could feel a dull pain. Maybe it was from me falling over after Palpatine tried to kill me, or it was from the lightning itself, but I knew I could handle it and I dealt with worse.

But my leg was worse, along my right thigh there was a wound that seemed as big as my leg itself. The blood was not as bad, but it almost looked like it was charcoaled from the lightning blast. It felt numb, maybe it was numb from the sudden impact and I was a bit frightened now.

"Ben…what did you do?" I asked him hoarsely as I looked back at my brother, seeing him look down for a brief moment before he cleared his throat as if he was about to cry. His hand was still on my neck as we finally locked eyes. I felt terrified about what did because I knew then that he might lose more than he could afford.

"I did what I needed to do," He replied brokenly, having me see that there was a small tear there on his face, "All I wanted to do was to keep you safe."

"I know," I commented, touching his face briefly and seeing the pain there on his face. It made me look at him with a bit more remorse. I could see Rey was given us space, moving away from the both of us as I took in a very shaky breath, "I just wish we had more…more time."

"Me too," He admitted to me. He took in his own breath, already sounding raspy with how he was breathing as I could feel the sense of dread coming over me and the both of us sitting there together within our little bubble of a moment. I slowly and carefully leaned my forehead over to touch his forehead, both of us staying silent. We could feel the other and how the other's Energy was simmering and connecting. It was almost like we were becoming one like we used to do when we were children and nothing kept us apart.

"I wish there was another way," I said in a remorseful way, but Ben shook his head now as he pulled away and looked at me with a haunting look in his eyes. I could tell he wanted to tell me plenty of things, so many things were haunting him behind his eyes.

"You remember what Uncle Luke taught us when we were little, about death?" Ben asked me carefully, his voice still wavering and almost breaking towards the end. I said nothing now as I was trying to remember, but I clearly knew. It was one of the main things Uncle Luke told us about dying and death. Especially those who were Force Sensitive, the connection that we all had together and could still have though we were no longer physically present in the world.

"I do," I answered, seeing him give me one more smile and he searched my eyes. He squeezed his embrace with me once more before I felt him slowly fall backward onto the ground. Rey rushed over as I helped eased him on the ground to make more he wouldn't hurt himself. Now he was the one who was on the ground, looking right at me as I hunched over him painfully with my wounds still there.

I had to embrace what he did and why he did it. I didn't want to be the selfish one and want him to stay when he had his motives. But we were apart for so long and this was our only small moment back together.

"I won't leave you," He reminded me, having me nod as we were holding hands on top of his hand. I nodded, giving him one last smile before I saw him look briefly over at Rey. She was next to me, giving him one more smile too. I could tell they had their moment together before I woke up from being near death, and I looked at Rey, seeing some lightness back on her face. The lightness within her was strong compared to before.

But when I looked back at Ben, he was gone. I took in a shaky breath, slamming my eyes shut now as I placed my hand that was once on top of Ben's chest there along the ground. He was gone, long gone now and there was no sense of hope that he was going to come back. It was one of the moments a Jedi could have, leaving this world for another part of the Jedi journey.

I was the last in my family now, the last Skywalker.

* * *

"I can fly,"

"Doubtful, you're weak."

"Come on, Rey, I can do it."

Rey gave me a knowing look as she was helping me stagger out from the structure and back to my X-Wing. There were Destroyers all around, but my X-Wing was left untouched from all the chaos. Nothing was moving, nothing was seeping death. In fact, it was early calm, which was both frightening and unsettling. Maybe it was some kind of miracle, but I could finally hear Q2 beeping at me in fear and panic as we were approaching.

I was numb, not only from the wounds that were still fresh and making it worse for me to concentrate but also from seeing my brother's death firsthand. I knew why it was numb there within me, but I didn't even want to digest just it all just yet as now we had to leave this place, all of it behind us.

"Don't be stubborn and let your droid fly you back."

"I can…"

"Neyli, I swear to you I think Poe's stubbornness is rubbing off on you," Rey grumbled as I weakly chuckled from the thought, "Q2, fly her straight back to the base and nowhere else," Rey ordered my droid, who was now beeping at me frantically wondering what happened and why it took so long.

"Not now….buddy," I said in a groan, almost collapsing on Rey from he energy already feeling like it was slipping. But it was just exhaustion, almost like I wanted to fall asleep. Rey grunted a she kept me up, having me look at her amazement with how she was holding me up with ease. We finally made it to the side where I climb up the ladder with my shaky legs, the wounded leg making it harder for me to not grunt out and hiss in pain. Once I was finally in the cockpit, I leaned back in my seat as Rey reached over to touch some of the buttons.

"Let Q2 drive you back, Neyli," She said to me as I looked and rolled my head over to eye her, "And Q2, make sure she gets help and over to the Med Bay."

"Poe'll make sure of that," I grunted out as I was getting even more tired from just talking about it, but I paused and looked up at Rey as she was finishing getting the coordinates ready within my cockpit. I felt pathetic that she was doing this for me since it felt like My body was physically a noodle. But I reached up with my bloody hand, the same hadn't I used to push my Force Energy to save her, and I placed it on her sweaty arm. She stopped and looked at me, having me give her a tired grin.

"You're stronger than you think," I reminded her, seeing her give me a look of uncertainty, "And I'm glad to have you as my friend…after all of this happened." She grinned at me, it was a sad smile though. She mourned for Ben too, what she felt with him was different from what I had with him since he was my twin, but never the less we both mourned for him in our own manner. But I was glad I wasn't alone in this.

"You're my friend too," Rey reminded me, having me see her help me strap into my seat, "Actually," She paused, thinking to herself now as she then gave me a smaller smile now, it was genuinely more than forced, "You're like my family now."

I smiled, though I must have looked like an idiot with blood on my lips and my face beyond sweaty, seeing her look over at my droid as I felt and heard the X-Wing warming up.

"Make sure she gets there in one piece, I mean it Q2," She informed, the droid beeping in agreement as Rey finally got my helmet carefully on my head. Once it was fully one, Rey tapped my head as she gave me one more gentle look and smile before tapping me on the helmet, "I'll see you back at base,"

"You got it," I replied, seeing her finally hold down and the X-Wing roared to life. Q2 beeped in my helmet as the window and visor closed. I leaned more against my seat, feeling the X-Wing move on its own now since I knew Q2 was taking control for me.

"It's fine…Q," I said to him as he was steering us to take off into the sky, "I'm fine….please take us home."

And with the soothing feeling of the X-Wing taking off and soaring above the aftermath of the battle, I dozed off once more, somehow wish that Ben was still with me.


	18. Chapter 18

With the first flickers the home base planet coming in sight, I sighed in relief now from my cockpit.

It all was over so fast, the confrontation with Palpatine, having some kind of dream with the Jedis of the past, and then seeing my brother leave me right before my eyes. My whole body was ready to shut down at any minute from using too much of my Force Energy and the wounds I got. It really did feel like I was dead, and of course Ben would have to save me.

Once we were in the atmosphere and lower yourself within the thick jungle treetops, I heard Q2 beep from his spot in the X-Wing, having me carefully reach up and take my helmet off.

"Thanks for flying us home, Q2," I thanked him, hearing him beep some more, "Yes, I'm sure the others will be happy to see us." It was nice that we were safe and sound, but then again I was still hurting on the inside and I was still beyond tired and exhausted. Just the thought fo be standing up alone was going to make me pass out, but I was glad to be back in a safe place.

Q2 beeped a few more time before I chuckled and got my helmet off completely, "You know, tattling on BB-8 does sound a lot like you,"

Q2 chirped.

"Yes, you do mean well," I agreed with him as we were now finally touching down in the Resistance base docking area. I sighed in relief, seeing the familiar buildings we saved into the hillsides and the high treetops to block and cover up the ships from the naked eye. My X-Wing was being held away from the others, surrounded by trees in a clearing now away from everyone else. I didn't see everyone else just yet, and maybe it was a good thing. Once the X-Wing was on the ground completely and the engines were turned off, I waited for a few moments of silence there within my safe space of an X-Wing. It was going to be intense from here on out, moving on from what I saw and with what I was feeling.

Was I ready?

With a gentle push with my good hand, I got the top off the X-Wing and I breathed in the thick jungle air and the upcoming mention fo rain that was on the way. The sun hit my face brightly, making me squint as I slowly unbuckled myself and got myself at least up in the cockpit and standing on my two wobbly legs. It was painful to do it with my one wound on my thigh and now it was throbbing with every breath. There was a loud handful of cheering and noises being heard from a distance from where the main locking bay was, a bit farther away from me since I was secluded.

"Neyli Organa Solo!"

A voice was bellowed out loud, having me snap to attention now as I knew that voice. I saw him bolting over, already out of his jumpsuit and wearing his Resistance attire again. He looked relieved and angry to see me at the same time, the look of shock there within his eyes as he came to a halt in front of my X-Wing and was pointing a finger at me.

Jencon.

"I'm so close to screaming at you for what you pulled out there!" He said in a shout and almost in a growl, but I knew he was just angry with how I looked. I didn't say a word, since not only I had nothing to say to my best friend, but it would probably hurt just talking at the moment to him. I then took in a deep breath, cringing a bit since he then sighed and rubbed his face with one hand.

"You look like literal hell," He muttered as he walked over to grab the ladder ready to come up and get me. It was the same thing he did before on the Battle of Crait, Jencon seeing me be an idiot and rescuing me.

Once he got up to the top step of the ladder, being eye level to me, I could see he was looking at me all over and analyzing me from his spot on the top step. The first familiar face I saw, apart of Rey, and I felt like I was crumbling down and cry.

"I lost him, Jencon," I said in a hoarse whisper, seeing him watch me carefully, "I lost Ben…and it hurts."

Jencon said nothing, seeing that I was really hurting in front of him, apart from the grime and blood all over my body. He then leaned over the edge of the X-Wing, wrapped both of his arms around me and he gave me a gentle and yet soothing hug. I said nothing, leaning my head against his shoulder, his arms around my waist and my own arms hanging at my side. Jencon was a fierce friend to me, dealing with all of my mass chaos and weird family drama. He only knew so much, not all of it, and I didn't want him to know all of it in the first place.

"I thought you died, Neyli," He said against my head as we were still hugging, "Really died this time. And you've got some explaining to do to me...along to your fiancé."

I pulled away from him and looked at him in panic, "What happened to Poe? Is he okay?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary for his standards," he explained, "In all honesty, he's worried about you. Rey came back before you, and she warned all of us about what happened."

I looked at him in horror, seeing him not say a word as he lovingly pushed my hair out of my caked blood on my face and from my eyes.

"She told you….everything?" I asked in a worried manner. He gave me a small grin.

"I begged her to tell me, apart from Finn and Poe obviously," He replied, having me look at him now in horror as he carefully patted my shoulder, "Don't worry, you can explain everything to me later when you want."

I sighed in relief now as Jencon grabbed my arm carefully and hoisted me over the edge of the X-Wing onto the top of the ladder stair. I grunted when we were going down every step together, finally making it to the ground level onto the jungle floor. Jencon then wrapped his arm around my waist and had my good arm around his neck in support and stability. We were walking slowly, having me try got not pass out with every step and every move.

"Can you promise me, for now on, no more of near-death stunts?" Jencon asked as we were walking side by side, "I never thought being your friend would mean seeing how many dangerous situations you can get in without even thinking twice."

"I fly off the seat of my pants, you didn't know that?" I asked in a sarcastic tone. Jencon snorted.

"Poe's really rubbing off on you, isn't he?" He asked in a snort as I grinned.

"Rey said the same thing," I agreed with him.

"Now that has to be saying something," Jencon commented as we were rounding a corner to get into the mass opening and clearing, "Your Q2 unit called not only my droid but R2D2, letting the others know that you were coming,"

"What others?" I asked, then going into silence now as we were there at the edge of the loading bay. There was a stunned silence, almost everyone there at the base was standing still and looking right at me. I was frozen, still latched onto Jencon and using his weight as all of the eyes of the Resistance were on me.

They looked relieved to see me, since the massive victory we had over the First Order that ended everything once and for all. I saw all of the grime on their face, every single one of their faces as they were all in their fighting uniforms.

I felt a sense of peace coming over and seeing all of them smiling at me and almost giving me solemn looks. Maybe they knew what happened out there, what I saw with Ben and Rey. But I knew they didn't, which was nice since I didn't want that exposed to the others to know about my dirty laundry of family drama.

Jencon and I were walking slowly, the mob of people was parting for us as we were coming through and giving us plenty of space. I walked past them, both knowing what to do since I was so close to being paralyzed from the sheer pain that I was in. But Jencon still held onto me, having me hear a murmur of praises and thanks as I passed by pilots. Some of them touched my arm as I passed, almost like they were giving me some kind of blessing as I walked and got closer to the main hub of the Resistance Base. When I was close enough to the coverings of the meeting areas, I heard some familiar beeping and chirping of joy as a massive hole was made in the mob that was watching.

"Oh thank the Maker! Master Solo!" I heard C-3PO said in glee as he and R2-D2 were rushing over to see me, having me a weary smiled as a third droid rolled over and bumped through the other two.

"BB-8!" I said in a gleeful tone that was sounding tired, wanting so badly to have the strength to bend down to be at his level like I did in the past, "Where's Poe?"

"Right here," Another opening was over to my right slightly. There was Poe standing there in the middle of the small opening that was made of him as I locked eyes with him. He was there in the flash, looking both relieved and almost shocked to see me. I was only focusing on him there, no one else was in my line of vision now as I could see the pure love on his face. This was far too much, and although I felt like I had a lot of explaining to do, then again he knew what was going to happen. We had that talk, but this was different.

I was beyond relieved to see him, and boy did I want to kiss him so bad.

I felt Jencon carefully untangle himself from me, having me stand there done now as he cleared his throat to the rest of the mob that was watching.

"Let's give them space, guys," he said in a light tone, the others agreeing with the nod of their heads and walking away. Thankfully within a few moments, we were left alone together out there in the open, though it felt like we were alone in a secluded room. I was only watching him, seeing him take a few steps towards me afraid that if he ran he would spook me. But I saw it in his eyes, the need to run over and scoop me in his arms. What was holding him back?

What was holding me back?

Finally, after rubbing his face a bit aggressively now, I took a careful step towards him, almost wobbling along the jungle terrain floor. He saw me do this, almost taking a quick step forward to make sure I wasn't going to fall. It made me remember how Ben did the same thing back on the Destroyer when I was rescued.

"Hey…." Poe finally said, his voice sounding genuinely concerned as he was now almost right in front of me, holding his hands out to at least catch me as he was scanning my face, "You're okay…"

"Just give me a Goddamn hug," I grunted to him, seeing him freeze up there since I was brutally honest with him and almost mad at him, "I literally almost died back there and all I thought was you and not seeing you again, I'm hurting like hell all over and I'm about to pass out, and I'm about to break down in tears, so right now all I really want is a hug—"

Poe wrapped his arms around me within an instant, my good arm going up behind his back and clutching him as we were embracing each other intimately. I sighed in both relief, a small bit in pain, but mostly in happiness. I wanted to crush him hard against me, but since the pain was still there and still real, so that was out of the question.

"We have a lot of talk about," Poe said to me in a broken tone, I nodded my head in agreement.

"We do," I agreed, grunting in pain when Poe shifted against me, "But right now I'm about to pass out so I need to get to the Med Bay before I do that."

"Okay, okay," Poe said in a rush, quickly moving away from me and giving me space, looking at me up and down to access the damage on my body, "I'll take you. Come on, sweetheart."

He gently grasped my arm to cradle it with his, walking next to me now as we were talking together over to the Med Bay. I leaned against him, taking a shaky breath.

"If it makes you feel better," I admitted to him as we were getting closer to our destination, "After I get better, I swear to you not to do anything else that gonna bring me near death."

"I know you won't," He replied, having me squeeze his hand as he kissed my cheek in a loving and careful manner, "I think your reckless days here with the Resistance are over."

"As are yours?" I asked, looking over at him with a raised eyebrow. We both were sweaty and grimy from the last battle, me wobbling on my last good legs, but never the less we were smiling at each other. Grinning, like we were young and reckless just as we were when we first met.

"Yeah," he replied, I was ginning at him, "Yeah they are."

* * *

"Is she in here?"

"She's resting, but you can visit."

I was sprawled out on one of the makeshift Med beds, my thigh was thicket wrapped in gauze and my hand was wrapped, cakes in medicine. I was leaning against some pillows and folded blankets with Poe sitting next to me, in which I was telling him everything that happened when we split off in the middle of the battle. He listened to every word, not stopping for any questions or comments. It felt good to tell him, though it stung when I mentioned Ben and his passing. But Poe remained quiet, holding my hand gently within his own as we then heard two sets of footsteps coming into our own little room.

Finn and Rey.

They both looked relieved to see me, a big grin was spread on Finn's face now as I smiled at him. Poe moved away from me to give Finn some space to rush over fall to his knees. It was like he was a child seeing a parent once more after being away for so long. I grinned at him as he seemed like he had a lot to say.

"Thank God you're okay," He said as he gave me a careful but firm hug. He even snuck a kiss on the side of my head as I rested my chin on his shoulder. I chuckled and hugged him back with my one good arm, looking past him to see Poe and Rey giving each other a gentler hug. That was heartwarming to see both of them being friends again after their confrontations and fights in the past. Finn pulled back at looked at me with a huge relief on his face, "I felt a shift with you back when I was on the Falcon…I thought…I thought you were gone."

No one moved when he said that, having em see that he almost had tears in his eyes from saying that. Poe and Rey said nothing too, Poe looking at me in concern. I gave Poe a look past Finn, shaking my head slightly at him as Rey was looking at me too with less concern and more genuine remorse.

"I'm okay, Finn," I reassured him, "Thankfully I'm going to be sticking around for a little while longer,"

"You better, since you still owe me a training session with your lightsaber," he reminded me, having me remember some time ago when we first met officially and he wanted to know more about using a lightsaber. I had to smile widely, my busted lip scratching out on my skin and my genuine happiness was coming back within me. Even Poe grinned from the excitement on Finn's face.

"I'll train you," I reminded him.

"She's a good teacher," We both heard behind me, having me look and here it was from Rey. She had one of those rare smiles that she would never really use, but I loved that about her. It lit up her whole face, and she too went through so much with Ben and Palpatine. I wished we had time together to talk about what happened and what we experienced, but now was not one of those times.

"Yeah, she is," Poe commented too with a hint of pride in his voice. I gave him a look too, almost seeing him roll his eyes at me as I focused back on Finn. He was still crouched at my side, looking at me with all his attention.

"When I felt it," He explained, pointing slightly to his chest, "It felt like you were really gone…and I felt he was gone too,"

I stayed quiet, knowing that he meant Ben. I didn't know what to say to that, and it felt like my tongue was getting thick to the roof of my mouth. Was I ready to talk about it all to the rest of the group just yet? It felt like the wound was still trying to heal over and turn into a scar. I didn't know how long it was going to last and mend, but all I had to do and needed to do was to move forward.

"I'll tell you everything."

* * *

**Author's Note**: The next chapter will be the Epilogue and the end of this trilogy! Thanks again for the positive reviews and thoughts as you read my story. I'll try to end it on a high note!


	19. Epilogue Part 1

**Two Weeks after The Battle of Exegol**

The medic moved the cover of the blanket away from my legs carefully, having me peer down and see the continuous healing of my thigh. I was basically strapped down to the bed since I arrived back at base, and to everyone's surprise, I wasn't going to argue. Jencon was even surprised, placing his hand on my forehead now in a mocked look fo urgency.

"You're dying again, aren't you?"

"Shut it, Jencon."

It was better than being back out there, which a part of me wanted to go back. Things were trying to wind back down, people are going back to normal and some of the Resistance fighters were even trying to go back to their own homeworlds since the war ended everything and there was peace back in the galaxy. I thought back that myself, trying to think if I should go back to Naboo.

Rey came to see me a few hours after I arrived back, giving me some time to get on the mending path. She and I spoke about what happened, Rey telling me all that she went through with Palpatine and what she did to defeat him. I listened in undivided attention, hearing how she finally connected with the Jedi of the past. I was enthralled with it all, having me be a bit jealous in how she was saying the strength go the Jedi got her back on her feet.

"But it was you and helped me the most," Rey explained as she was sitting on the side of my bed, looking at her folded hands in her lap, "I felt it, all of your energy. It was….you….you saved me." She was blubbering a bit, already having a new wave of emotions coming over her now from re-hashing all that happened. I felt bad for her, knowing that she had her own connection to my brother that was different. I reached over and laced our finger together on top of her lap, seeing her slowly stare at me with big tears about to fall.

"I miss him too," I replied, seeing her almost taking in a shaky breath. I could tell, and see it, that she missed my brother. I finally pulled on her hand and we held each other on my bed, Rey silently crying and I just said quietly. I had no more tears to shed and loose over Ben since to me it was slowly moving from grief and pain to peace and calm. All e could do from now on was just live, live and move on with our lives.

"I have something that I think you should keep yourself," Rey explained as we pulled away from our embrace with one another. I watched as she leaned down to grab her bag that she placed on the floor, placing the bag in her lap to open the top and reach inside. She pulled out two sabers, having me notice one instantly as Uncle Luke's Saber. But the other, something about it made me think that I should know it. Really know it. But it didn't click until I felt the last remaining energy that was surrounding it. The familiar energy that made almost crumble there in my bed.

"It was—" Rey started but I cut her off very softly and in a broken tone.

"My mother's saber," It was painful to think of my mother, how she wasn't there to hug me, or to tell me how proud she was that I made it back in one piece after our mission to find the Wayfinders. I knew her faces going to be engraved in my brain, and the last couple of nights I dreamed of her as if she was still alive. I wanted her to be alive, even if it felt like she was still here in some way with her spirit.

I never knew she had her saber, let alone she was training to be a Jedi. It left so many questions unanswered as I was peered down at the handle of the saber. It was delicate and fierce, just like my mother was.

"I think you should have them," Rey said to me, having me finally tear my eyes from the saber and watch her. She adored my mother and Uncle, and yet she was bearing me these sabers, knowing that it was in the best hands with me. I smiled fully at her, already feeling a bit more at peace with all of this. This was a good start of what was to come, and Rey was a big help in that.

"Thank you,"

The Resistance held a massive celebration, lighting off fireworks and sparklers high int e sky to show that we won once and for all. It went all through the nights, people embracing each other and showing no more sense of fear or uncertainty. I was even able to be able to get out go the medic tent and join in the celebration of our victory, only for a little while. I was sitting with Chewbacca out in my chair as we were watching the Resistance fighters all congratulating each other with drink and dancing.

Finn and Poe were being clasped on the shoulder over and over by everyone that was coming near them, having me laugh from time to time from seeing everyone being so joyful and gleeful. It took them some time, but Poe was finally able to break away from the massive crowd that was now going together for a dance and he sat down next to me. He looked sweaty and already out of breath as I rubbed his shoulder lovingly. Poe looked at me now, seeing how I was sitting and he raised an eyebrow.

"You feeling alright?" he asked, having me nod as I pointed at him. He was forever looking out for me, even when there was no sense of danger nearby.

"I should ask you that, being congratulated on several times over," I commented as a joke, seeing him chuckle now and almost blush as I called him out, "General Dameron leading us to victory. I like the sound of that,"

"I barely did anything," he admitted, the both of us looking back at the crowd as he was gesturing with his hands, "We all rallied together as one." I reached down and took our hands together, placing our joined hands on my lap.

"But you lead them." I countered, seeing him look back at him with his small grin, "My mom saw that leadership in you, and I did too. I think she would be beyond proud since I am," he grinned a tie, no longer saying anything to back himself up and not be in the spotlight. I knew deep down that he needed to hear that, someone complimenting him being a great leader and taking up the reigns as one the acting Generals.

Poe leaned over to plant a sweet kiss on my lips, holding it there and squeezing my hand in his. I grinned in the kiss, kissing him two more times to have our moment there. There was no need to rush this, no need to look over our shoulders or be afraid fo being caught. It was peaceful for us, and almost picture-perfect with the fireworks going off behind us and the cheers of celebration heard in our background. I was still sore, still healing slowly but surely but at that moment, I never felt better.

Once I pulled away for Poe, I saw how he was almost looking starstruck from how we were kissing away from the group and I smiled widely at him.

"I love you," I said softly for the both of us to hear. His smile grew as I said this, having me feel like we were going to say this plenty of times for now on. That thought alone made me happy, thinking of all the time we had for now on in front of us for no rush and no sense of danger. For awhile, I never thought we would get to this point, but now that we were here, I was beyond excited for what our future going to have in store for us.

"Love you more, Neyli," he replied to me with his soft tone but sounding confident about it.

Poe was with me every day for my healing process, only going out a few times to get some General Business done with Finn. It was nice to have him there to talk to and to keep some of the pain off of my mind, and yet the pain was getting less and less every day. There were even times when he was looking away briefly when I was getting my wraps changed, seeing the caked dry blood on my skin near my hand and leg before it was changed to a new wrap. The medic chuckled when she saw this after my third wrap change.

"Squeamish, General?" She asked in a coy tone, having me grin as Poe tried to hold it in and take in a gulp.

"A bit…didn't expect to see a lot of blood," He grimaced, both the Medic and I chuckled from his reaction.

This time around, the wrap was almost completely lean from blood and residue that was leftover. Poe was watching from the corner, his arms crossed in front of us and his hand resting in front of his mouth with intentional eyes. I tried to maneuver my leg around a bit to get some feeling back there, already feeling the tension and the tenderness along with my muscles. There was a long thick line on my thigh, glistening in the light of the room we were in and the opening of the outside into the jungle area.

"The scar is looking good," The medic said as she was looking down at my almost bare thigh. I was a bit embarrassed that I was wearing very short shorts that were covering everything else, but my thigh and leg were exposed out on the table. The raid line of the scar was almost glimmer like sparkles, "The medication I gave made the healing come together faster."

"Makes me look like a machine," I commented, having me see out fo the corner of my Poe looking a bit on the tip of his toes to get a better view and now move at the same time, "You know you came come over, there's no blood."

Poe chuckled, walking over finally and sitting in his chair that was located right next to my bed. I gave him a smirk as he didn't know what to do there with my leg exposed to the medic and her droid.

"The serum and the lotion I gave you is the best at leaving you a thin yet distinct scar from a major wound. But, your thigh is going to be needing some more muscle mass, its very weak. Maybe some exercising will do you some good."

"I can do that," I replied to her, seeing him grin as she covered my back up avian and then went to work on my hand, another thin and slim scar along my forearm and almost touching my palm was seen on my pale skin.

"You lost a good amount of muscle tissue and mass from not using it," The medic explained as she was roasting my wrist and moving around my muscles under the skin. I grimaced a few times from where she was bending my arm, and yet Poe was rubbing my shoulder in reassurance as he was watching the massage I was getting.

"Also, you need to massage this arm throughout the day for here on out every day until your arm is completely all better," She explained, now Poe was piping up.

"I can do that part…," Poe said a bit too quickly, then cutting himself off as we both were giving him looks. He almost looked flushed and flustered as I patted this hand on my shoulder now, seeing his cheek almost go a bit pink.

"I won't say anymore," The medic replied as she placed my arm back down in my lap, "I need to get my supplies ready before I move out back to my home planet." She then paused and looked at me with intrigue there on her face, "In fact, it might be best for you to get some proper rest on your home planet, or at least out of here."

"You think?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Some peace is much needed for you," She recommended, "We all need some of that now that things are going back to normal. How about you, General, are you going to be heading back home soon?"

"I'm waiting for everyone else to head out before I do," Poe replied smoothly, having me give him a raised look now as he cleared his throat slightly and then locked eyes with me. We both were fine laying low, for now, one, but we didn't really full-on talk with what we were going to do next because of getting the rest of the Resistance to head to their home planets.

"Well," The medic said to me in a lighter tone, "I'll leave you to rest today. But from what I can see here, you're free to go,"

"Thank you," I thanked her, seeing her then move away and pack up her medic bag. I sighed in relief knowing that I was going to be able to get out of bed soon enough and back on my own two feet. I was going stir crazy sitting in one spot as the rest of the world was moving on and around me, finally settling into a world of no more First Order.

Once she was out of the tent, I rubbed my face with my good hand now as I sat up a bit and looked back at Poe, "First thing I'm gonna do tomorrow, I'm gonna fly out in my X-Wing."

Poe shot me a look, almost thinking that I was being honest as I gave him a smirk. He caught on for a mere moment, scoffing a bit next to me as I chuckled.

"Don't joke with me," Poe warned as I rolled my eyes.

"Please, I know better. I'm just pulling your semi-perfect hair," I reassured him as I patted his arm, "Besides, I still need to train Finn on the lightsaber anyhow," Poe gave me another look as I squeezed his hands, "Not like that! Just showing him slowly the moves and how to control his body. It'll help stretch out my muscles and my leg."

"Fair enough," Poe commented back, "Then after we get everyone else out of here and back to their home planets, we can head home too."

"Mmhm," I hummed in agreement, seeing a hesitant look on his face now as he was thinking about it. He was pondering, in which I looked a thin fully.

"What is it?" I questioned, seeing him bit his lower lip as he shifted in his chair to face me more.

"Where do you want to go?" I looked at him, clearly confused as to why he was asking this. But I could tell he was serious, "I mean, I know you have a home planet, as well as I do. But I figured you would want to head back where you were from—"

"Yavin 4," I replied smoothly, seeing him abruptly stop and look at his with raised eyebrows now as I shrugged my shoulders with my answer. I could tell he wasn't expecting that kind fo answer from me.

"Really?" He asked, sounding surprised.

"Sure," I answered calmly, "That's your home. I had no real intention of wanting to want to live back at Naboo since it reminds me too much of my mom," I paused, thinking that it sounded wrong when I said that, like it was a curse, "Besides when you took me all those years ago to see the Force Sensitive Tee at your house, I fell in love with the place."

"My house…" Poe trailed off, having me grin at him since he was remembering that he already had a house there for us.

"I think it's a perfect spot for us to be away from everything," I explained, "We both need to be there alone." I couldn't think of any other perfect spot for us to start our lives together than there in his old childhood home. However, I did feel kind of and that I sprung it on him without having a real discussion about this. But then again, with nothing hold us back here, I thought it was perfect.

"Poe," I said to him, getting his attention again since he was thinking about it quietly, "If you don't want to, I understand—"

"I do," He said to me with sincerity in his tone, having me see him give me a kind smile now, "Maybe if you wanted to, we can get married there. Under the Force Sensitive Tree."

I grinned and leaned my head over to rest on his shoulder, feeling him shift over a bit and wrap a good arm around me as I was picturing it in my head. It seemed too good t be true: the both of us being married right where we kissed for the first time and our relationship bloomed from friendship into some more.

"You're such a romantic," I cooed him hearing him lightly chuckle next to me.

"I have my ways," He commented, the both of us laughing there in the medic tent. I looked down at our joined hands, then taking my injured hand up to take off my necklace that was around my neck. Once it was off fo me, I placed the ring that was there, Poe's ring that he gave me what felt like a long time ago, on my ring finger. There it was on my finger, the cool of the metal against my clammy skin. It was surreal to see it in front of me, the eery silence there in the room was making it more imitate.

Poe watched while I was looking at the ring on my finger, the warmth of seeing it there and how it was going to be real enough soon was having me a bit more peaceful. I didn't care if I was still healing, or that I was sitting in a shabby bed with Poe next to me, I was grinning from ear to ear.

"Looks good on you," Poe murmured as I nodded in agreement. I placed my hand back on my lap when Poe kept talking, "We're finally gonna have that future that we both wanted or a long time."

"You have time to turn back," I warned him as I looked up at Poe, seeing him look down at him with an amused look.

"What makes you think I will?" He asked, having me shrug.

"Well, I'm not as perfect as you think I am," Sarcastically joked, seeing his cracked grin get bigger, "For one, I'm messy. My old quarters back at our old base was nothing compared to how messy I can be. Not to mention the bossy and firecracker trait I have in me, and I do happen to be a bit clumsy at times—"

"Shut up," Poe scolded me playfully now as I giggled, feeling him squeeze me tighter and we were laughing again.

* * *

Finn held out the saber in front of him as I showed him how to hold the saber next to him. We were in the middle of the clearing of the base, the remaining Resistance fighters that were still on our planet were fast asleep as we were training together late in the night. It was the best time to train with Finn, both of us going into our third night training together.

Poe was watching with Rey on the sidelines, both of them were watching with intrigue and silence as I was instructing Poe with my saber. Finn was using my Uncle Luke's saber to practice, Rey was making her own on her own time with the tools in front of her while she was sitting crisscrossed. Poe was watching Finn and me along with Rey and her building at the same time, with BB-8 and D-O rolling around the pair of them every once in awhile.

"Now move your arm along this way," I said to him, seeing him move as I showed him as he was trying to concentrate really hard. I liked working with Finn, he was eager to learn and be strong in his fight with a saber.

"Good, now when you do this—" I said as I swiftly moved my arm with a twist of the muscle, I grunt and stopped, almost keeling over in pain slightly. My arm was still on the mends, and I was trying to go easy on my arm since the healing was almost done. But I knew I pushed it, gritting through my teeth and giving out a bit of a yelp, almost dropping my saber.

Finn froze and clicked his saber shut, looking over at me with wide eyes. Poe and Finn looked up, Poe popping up instantly as I held out my hand to stop him from coming over. Even BB-8 chirped in worry.

"Friend is hurt?" D-O asked in his droid like tone next to BB-8 with a cock of his head.

"I'm fine," I said as I breathed out slowly, "Just twisted it wrong. I'm still healing,"

"You need me to check it?" Poe asked me in worry as he was very close to walking over with large strides. I clicked my saber shut to place it on my hip, then twisting my arm gently to ease out of the pain that shot through my arm. I shook my head.

"No, thanks, Sweetheart. I can do it," I reassured as I got my arm moving back around some more, trying to get back in the swing fo things. I finally turned and stood up completely, almost seeing a flicker behind Rey and Poe hidden in the dark. It looked like an image of someone, maybe a reflection, but it was slightly glowing and then it was gone within a flash.

I shook it off, not saying it to anyone else since they were still looking at me. I could tell maybe Rey saw something in how I reacted to the almost ghost, but she said nothing as I looked back at Finn and cleared my throat. I clicked my saber back on, twirling it at my side as if I did it for years. Finn looked with wide eyes from my neat trick as I gave him a knowing look.

"You ready?"

* * *

**Moon Yavin 4**

I hopped down from the crosier ship that Poe and I used to get to our new home. It was a cool late sunrise on the planet when we landed and the ramp lowered not the cool grass. I walked out with my hand over my eyes to shield my vision from the bright sunlight.

"Made it safe and sound," Poe commented as he walked down the ramp right after me, looking around at the scenery in front of me. There was a large grass area in front of a small house, having em remember seeing it sometime before when we were first getting together.

The house looked the same, just as gently and cozy as it was before. I grinned seeing it, the trees surrounding the house almost hid it from the public eye. The front of the house had a massive grass opening that was opened to a larger cliff that was giving off the scene of the rest of the moon planet. It was picture perfect.

And now it was our home.

I walked over to the opening in the grass, seeing the vast opening of the moon planet over the edge of the cliffs. It was all green, different shades and showing the luscious floral life this moon planet had. The clouds floating through the late morning were enough to give a few amounts of shade, but the sun was feeling just as good there along my skin.

I felt an arm wrap around my waist, a body behind me was very close and almost having em feel stiff as a board. I felt his fineries tap against my lower stomach, making me smile since we were now alone there, with no one else around us.

"Welcome home," Poe said against my skin as his lips were brushing against my neck, giving me a well all over shiver. I was breathless in how intimate this is, something we haven't had in a long time together since others were around. But now it was just the two of us, and I had a feeling we were going to be making up for the lost time.

I turned, seeing how close Poe was to me, almost a breath away as his arm wrapped around my waist instinctively. I scanned his eyes, seeing how warm and bright they were in the sun and his hair was moving gracefully in the wind. My heart as beating so fast, and no matter how many times we were this close, it felt like the first time.

He was downright angelic to me,

"You should give me a tour of the house," I advised him, though my voice was low and hinting, I grinned at him, seeing him look down at my lips briefly before he gulped and nodded his head. With a gentle pull from him, he guided me with his laced fingers on my own and we walked over to the house.

It was surreal to do this with him as he opened the front door and I peered inside, though I was too occupied with Poe wrapped his arms around me instantly and planting a bold kiss against my lips. I sighed as I planted one more kiss before Poe started guided me towards the hallway and still peppering kisses along my lips, then moving down to my cheek and then neck.

"So…that was the front room…" he uttered while planting a firm kiss on my jawline and I closed my eyes briefly in ecstasy, "And this is the hallway…"

"You're terrible at this," I said against his lips as he groaned from the kiss I gave him.

"You wanted a tour, so you're getting a brief one since this was not what I wanted to do in our new home," He whispered against my neck as he kissed me along my skin, almost going lower as he opened the door behind him which lead to the said bedroom. I pulled away from him slightly, seeing his red his lips got and his blown his pupils were.

"And what do you want to do?" I asked coyly, seeing him give me one of his wicked grins before he pulled me into our bedroom.

"I'll show you."


	20. Epilogue Part 2

**One Month After Battle of Exegol**

We both were still trying to keep things calm in the galaxy after the fall of the First Order, other planets and our old allies were nervous to come back out with their freedom and their peace from being under the First Order Tyranny. Poe and I decided to go help them, show them there was nothing to be afraid of, taking Poe, Rey, Chewie and our droids with us too. I trained Finn on the ship some more, finally getting to spare not just with Finn but also with Rey. Finn had good reflexes, though Rey was lighter on her feet and I could senes her every move as she tried to pin me. After another rousing session of sparring when I got her pinned, she looked up at me with a gasp on her lips.

"How do you manage to do that?" She asked though I gave her a coy look.

"You'll learn sooner than later."

It was a bit of a lengthy trip, but I didn't mind since we were all together and not having to be arias of being on the run. We would all vouch and show our allies that there is no longer a major threat. We also thanked those who came out and helped, all of them thanking us in showing us the way and bringing hope back to all of their lives. I knew it was something my mother wanted to do all along.

We held a smaller intimate funeral for her, only members of the Resistances and old allies of my mother's were in attendance. It was nice, though painful to see her and know that she was finally and reluctantly gone from my life. But not gone completely, there was still a part of her within me and I knew that. But this was hard, since not only did I lose my mother, but I knew my brother was gone too.

I could still feel his presence for time to time, almost like phantom presences that would come and go as I was with the others back at either my home or in the Millennium Falcon. I knew his presence, it was familiar with me. At first, it was saddening for me to feel this since I knew he was physically gone. But then again, it was just like my mother: their presence was within me and was trying to soothe me in times of pain or sadness. Almost like they were a ghost, standing right behind me and resting their hands on my shoulders to show me that they were there to comfort me.

After we made our journey throughout the galaxy and help bring peace and balance back together, we finally were able to start working our home. It was a nice change of pace, no longer needing to get up early to run drills or go out on another top-secret mission. We were slower with our time, still doing some work here and there but mostly just enjoying the nice and comfortable silence that our new home brought. We both needed the change of pace and a new way of living.

The house itself was small, with plenty of repairs and remodeling that needed to be done since it was barely touched for so long. We needed mind it, already getting most of the work done before we knew it and settling in quite nicely. There was a good-sized barn in the back of the house where most of the tools were being held.

One of the things that we needed to do was to find a place to hide and keep our X-Wings since neither one of us was willing to get rid of our X-Wings. Near the edge of the forest in our backyard we made a clearing for our two ships that was nice tucked away from the naked eye. After we did that, Poe and I decided that we needed to do one more thing together to make this new life for the both of us official.

We wanted to get married.

I was doing my stretches outside in the grassy area within the clearing near our new home. I was nearly healed from my wounds that were inflicted on me. It was a beautiful morning at our home, a cooler breeze was coming through near my home t the edge of the moon planet. It was going to be a big day, in which I needed to stretch and get my brain in check. My nerves were on end at this point when I was getting through the last stretch with my leg and getting the kink right out of it that was there for a while.

The sound of an upcoming ship was flooding my mind as I opened my eyes to see who it was. It was a familiar ship, having me grin and stand up straight and move my hair out of my eyes. At that moment I heard my droid coming over through the grass to beep at me in excitement.

"I know," I reassured him, "It is an important day."

I was getting married.

Later that day, a bit past noon, I was sitting in my room in front of my mirror at my vanity table, looking at my reflection in the mirror and was alone in the room. There was movement outside my room, out the backyard where the Sensitive Force Tree was held. Plenty of our friends from the Resistance were getting the wedding ready without my consent, Poe reassured me that it was going to be a surprise for me, for the both of us but mostly for me. I was a bit skeptical about having a wedding with plenty of people at our home, but Poe reminded me that this was good for us to be surrounded by those who were with us in the fight, in our relationship, and for the rest of our lives.

I was looking right at my reflection in the mirror, seeing how I was finding with the simple make-up I was putting on and trying to get my hair in the right spot. And yet, something wasn't right as I was looking at my own eyes. I felt a small pit in my stomach, fluttering there too from the nerves as I heard a timid knock on the door of the bedroom.

"Neyli?"

It was Rey, having me see her head poke in from the other side of the door. I binned a few times, resting my hands on the top of the vanity while he gently and carefully came into the room with D-O rolling behind her. Once she closed the door quietly, I looked up to see Rey fully through the reflection. She was wearing a simple yet gorgeous dress, it was emerald green and was down to her feet. Grinning at her slightly, I could see she was watching me carefully with D-O rolling over to me to look at me with his mechanical face.

"Poe wanted me to check in on you and see if you were okay," Rey explained as she walked over to stand right behind me, having emotive her a small smile.

"Or did he think I was going to have cold feet?" I asked, almost in a stammer as Rey grinned at me.

"I think you have rather warm feet," She said in almost a joke, hoping to light up the mood and make it seem better. I nodded tapping my fingers on the vanity surface, having a sense of dread that was there within my chest. I took in one more breath as I looked at Rey through the reflection of the mirror. It was supposed to be the happiest day in my life, and the happiness was there, but I knew who I needed there with me. They couldn't be there, and it was hurting just to think about it.

"I wish they were here," I admitted in a mutter. Rey stayed quiet, but I could see it in her eyes how she knew who I was talking about. I was moving on, slowly but surely with my life and letting the past be in the past, but this day was important for me to have them with me. Just thinking about it made me almost cry there in my chair. Rey saw me falter a bit as she placed her hands on my shoulders to calm me down and soothe me.

"They should be here with me," I muttered almost in a stammer as I cringed from how pathetic I sounded. I wished my mother was here to help me get ready in my room, telling me how beautiful I looked. She would calm my nerves and tell me that this was a happy day.

I wished I had my father to walk me down the aisle, holding onto my arm delicately and yet fiercely since I was his only daughter. He would tell me to walk slow, since walking fast was showing too much urgency. He then would give Poe a knowing look not tor break my heart.

And lastly, I would need Ben here to dance with me at the reception. He would hold me close as we would sway to the music and he would tell me he was beyond happy for me.

But those were robbed hopefully thoughts and dreams. I couldn't have them in reality, which made me beyond mad and sorrowful in knowing that it felt like I was alone in all of this. I took in one sniffle, trying now to brawl everything out since I already did some of my make up.

"They are with you," Rey reminded me, rubbing my shoulders with her arms and I took in a shaky breath, "They're here with you, and they always will be. And you still have family here that's willing to help you and Poe have a great day," I nodded in agreement, seeing Rey give me a small smile now as she looked down at D-O.

"Go get Rose, D-O," She instructed, having me look at her in concern as she reassuringly grinned.

"We're gonna get you ready properly."

It was finally dusk there at our home when the wedding was finally commencing. Rey and Rose finally got my hair looking stunning for a wedding as I was walking down the aisle. It was just a small cluster of people in attendance. They made a small walkway down the middle that did lead to the Force Sensitive Tree, lanterns were lit within the large branches above our heads and candles were placed along the aisle and around the chairs.

It was simple, but it was perfect.

Jencon walked me down the aisle, having me grin from ear to ear as I was wearing my wedding dress. It was covered completely in lace in my upper body down to my wrists and on my neck with a white brassier underneath along my chest, and a flowing skirt and train behind me. My hair was in flowing waves, my hair clipped away from my eyes and face. I wore simple slip one shoes that were pearly white and holding a small bouquet of local flowers that were found near the outskirts of our home. With Jencon leading me, I walked down the aisle to Poe who was waiting for me at the end underneath our Force Sensitive Tree.

He was wearing his best General clothes, hair pushed to the side with waves. He wore black pants and his boots that were shined, a blue waistcoat and a white dress shirt that was rolled up to his elbows. Once we locked eyes as Jencon walked us down the aisle, I saw him grin so wide and look so warm, I knew this was the best day and moment in my life.

The ceremony itself was short, we wanted dit that way since we both knew what we wanted to say and how we wanted to at least celebrate. Rey held my bouquet and Finn held the rings, the both go them standing behind Poe and me while the ceremony was commencing. The cool night that was coming through gave us he intimate feel and glow that was surrounding us we each gave our rings to the other and said our vows to one another.

"Neyli, I knew that you were going to impact my life from the moment I met you in that mess hall, and ever since then, you imprinted on my heart. I never felt that with anyone before my parents, and I don't want to lose that feeling ever again.

"I promise you to be standing next to you in all your decisions, love you unconditionally every day, and fight alongside you in all that comes our way. You're my whole life, and I love you more than I can ever tell you,"

I started to cry when he was telling me his vows, a tear almost slipping from my cheek. Poe instantly reached over from holding both of my hands and wiped away the one tear that fell. it was so gentle when he did it, having me think that he was thinking that he was going to break me. But I grinned when he wiped the tears, taking both of our hands back together between the both of us as it was my turn to say our vows. Clearing my throat, I looked at Poe straight in the eyes.

"One of the things I ultimately wanted in this life was to be loved, fully loved, for who I was. Not for who my parents were, not for where I came from, but for who I am. But as the years went on, that dream and hope were slowly slipping away from me, and I was about to get used to not having it.

"But it all changed when I met you, so many years ago. And I'm beyond glad it did because you were the one who taught me to love myself for who I am. I promise to constantly love you every moment of every day, to be with you in every choice you make, to never leave your side in rough and difficult times, and to constantly and regularly remind you that what we have is good, it's strong, and it's worth fighting for every day. I love you, Poe Dameron, and I know we'll be together for the rest of our lives."

We sealed it with a kiss, and it was the blossom of a new story for us.

Our reception was out under the trees with the chairs being moved to the side and out fo the way for the dancing that ensued. It was a wonderful night, plenty of dancing came and drinks were provided from our old allies that came to the event. It felt like Poe and I didn't have to lift a single finger the whole night, the both of us having our own table at the foot of the Force Sensitive Tree at the beginning of the reception and others coming to hug and congratulate us.

Everyone was dancing, eluding Chewie and Lando who were telling old war stories that they had that included my parents. I watched from the corner near the house where they were sitting, our friends sitting around them and listening like they were listening in on a cautionary tale, Lando using great expressions and Chewie pipping in every once in awhile. It was sure a sight to see, and I was glad they were working together.

I showed Finn how to dance properly as Poe did the same with Rey. Finn too was dressed formally in his new General outfit, and yet he was squirming and trying to follow as I showed him. After a few minutes of attempting him to do what I was doing, he finally got the hang of it and he was grinning like a youthful child. I was chuckling as went over to sweep Rey into his arms and show her what I showed him moments before.

Poe wrapped his arms around me as we slowly danced, looking around at close friends nearby as they were dancing too. I rested my head on his shoulder as we were having our small moment together. It was like we were in our own bubble, nothing else around us mattered as I felt him squeeze me gently and fiercely.

"Are you happy?" He asked me, his voice was soothing and kind as we were swaying back and forth, wrapped in each other arms and feeling the drinks settling in to give me warmth and light sensation. I was feeling the flutter of all that happened with the last few hours, the remorseful feeling of my family not being there to see this, but I remembered what Rey told me before that they are here with me.

It was much better than I thought it was going to be, and with my newfound family here with us in celebration of our marriage, knowing how they all flew with us on plenty of missions, fought in the battles that almost brought the Resistance to its knees, they were still there for us.

I squeezed our joined hands that were resting on his chest. I grinned, sighing happily now as this was the most content I have ever been in my life.

"Beyond happy."

* * *

**2 Years After Battle of Exegol**

The sunlight woke me up early that morning, having me squint and squirm a bit in my bed, which was unoccupied at the other side of it. Slowly I opened my eyes, I could see from my view with my head in my pillow the large window that was showing the open grass area and the edge of the cliff not too far away. The rays of suns were peeking over the trees and into the sky, giving off alight shade of pink and blue mixing together to show the start of the day.

It was warm outside, the large glass door that lead outside was barely open and the breeze was coming through to cool down the room. I could see the curtain slowly swaying in the wind from the gentle breeze while I stretched out with my legs and wiggled my toes to help wake myself up. Luckily, I had nothing going on today, we were going to have some visitors come over to the house for the day to visit and help do some upkeep on the house. Even after living here for almost a year, we were still doing upkeep and fixes on the house.

But we didn't mind it.

Finn and Rey would come to visit constantly, having me joke with them at one time when they were over for dinner that we could build them a permeant home near our own house. Although Poe was thinking about it for a brief second and he saw the side look I was giving him, he dryly chuckled and shook his head.

"Not gonna happen." he joked, Rey and Finn laughing too from the thought. We still loved having them with us at the house, but they both were incredibly busy. Poe was working with Finn in more diplomatic meetings with old and new allies in hopes of keeping the peace permanent. They wanted to make sure there were no more whispers about the First Order, and if there were we tried to snuff them out once and for all.

Finally, after what seemed to be countless trips and visits, we were finally able to have a peaceful life I knew we were fighting for. Poe and I made it back to our home, starting working from the bottom up with upkeep that was needed from an aged home. It was nice working with my hands, not having to go at a fast pace and taking my time with the finishing touches and the loving craftsmanship.

The days were colorful with sounds of the jungle, the streaks fo lights coming through all of our windows that were floor to ceiling, and the ever-constant breeze that would come through all the day long when Poe and I would enjoy our days together. Whether it was doing another job on the house. or reading books constantly that we scarped together from past missions, Poe and I were slowing down dramatically.

But we loved it.

The nights were peaceful and calm, the haunting and yet beautiful sounds of the jungles lured me to sleep every night with no hesitation. The best part of the night was the stars, constantly bright and ever-moving every time we were looking up on top of our roof. It was my favorite time of day: sitting on our roof that we fixed together with our own hands, holding our calloused hands together and seeing almost every single star in the galaxy so close and yet so far away from us.

Some times we would talk about our day, who we linked up within our Resistance delegations and negations, or visits to planets that required our assistance in the post First Order reign. Other times, we would just sit there in silence and enjoy the other. It was nice to have those silent moments, it reminded me that all is well and there was nothing to fear.

Those rooftop moments reminded me of the times we would lay out on my X-Wing, looking at the same stars in our old Resistance Base after hours of talking or training. Back when we were just friends and getting to know each other, but now we were husband and wife. The feeling was almost the same as it was before, years ago, but it was also different too. None the less, I was content on where I was and who I was.

I finally swung my legs over the side and I felt my toes linger a bit on the hardwood floor, the cool sensation touched my skin and made me sigh in relief as I looked out the large window with a smirk. I knew exactly who it was that left the large door sightly open that would lead to our grass outer area and knew he had a sneaky way of doing those little things for me when he thought I wasn't going to know myself.

Slowly with my hands on the bed, I carefully made myself rise up from sitting on the edge and I tried to et my own sense of gravity back into motion. It was getting harder for me to at least stand and stand standing for long periods of time, and it was both enduring and bothering me at the same time.

I was 8 months pregnant.

When I first found out, I was petrified. It was scary for me to think that I would be bringing in a new life into the world. Was I going to be good enough? Was I going to be making mistake after mistake? Was I capable of being someone that could handle being a mother? It was haunting me from the moment I found out after being examined by the same Medic who put me back together. With Poe out for the day to see Finn with Resistance business, I called the medic to my house. After a few mere moments and tests, she told me the news.

Poe, on the other hand, was ecstatic when I told him the news. I thought he was going to slam his head not he wall when he whirled around in joy from hearing he was going to be a father. I only stood there still and let him have his moment before he finally slowed down and looked at me as if I was crazy not being just as excited as he was. He could see the hesitance there on my face as he finally took in a deep breath.

"What's wrong?" He asked, standing right in front of me and now looking so concerned since I wasn't being as excited as he was. I said nothing, looking down at my stomach which was not showing any signs of life there yet. I was petrified in what was to come, sure there was a small sense of joy was there since it was Poe that I was going to share this with.

"Neyli," Poe called me back to reality, having me snapback from the nightmare I was ready feeling and dreading. I could see how he was looking at me like he was afraid to spook me at any moment, "We can do this, you know that right?" I could see how he was wanting me to answer him. I had to think about how Poe was thinking, not how I was thinking.

Sure I was petrified with this and how we were going to be parents, but I didn't see that in Poe's eyes. All I saw were possibilities, huge leaps to jump, and one massive adventure we were about to embark on. His face was lit in joy, not darkened in despair. We never talked about kids, not once when we were together because there was no need to talk about it. It wasn't on either one fo our minds, nor was it in our agendas. But because of that, Poe was none the less excited. Not only did I have to trust him, but there was a small flicker within me in hopes that I would want this too.

It made me think of Ben, somehow having a wishing and hopeful feeling he was there with me and standing next to me. Would Ben be excited for me? He had to have been, I knew he would have been. So with this new step and walking in our new life together, I nodded my head.

"I believe you."

As the pregnancy went along with no hiccups, I was feeling more and more confident in becoming a mother. I was getting sued to how my body was no beaching a vessel for another being, not really liking the fact that I wasn't in most of the control with my body, seeing my lower stomach getting bigger and my hips getting wider. It was making the training harder for me since my sense of gravity has changed.

Doing my moves with my saber was way more difficult, having to catch myself a few times from falling over since I was used to having a small center of gravity. Now it was bigger, and it was hard for me to do. So I resorted to medication, concentrating on my breathing and the Force Energy sensations around me in our new home become strong thanks to the Force Sensitive Tree that was getting bigger and bigger by the day. It was calming, compared to sparring and parceling, and it did the trick.

For being a person that loved being in control, this was bothering me. Sure, I didn't mind being pregnant and it took me a month to let it sink in and enjoy it, the changing of my body was enough to make me mad.

But Poe, never the less, was right behind me in all the aches and pains that were along the way. Within the first few months of my pregnancy, I was constantly vomiting, but Poe was right behind me to hold my hair back and rub out the pains in my lower back. Later one as I was swelling up like a planet, Poe was reassuring to me that I was still beautiful.

"You don't have to butter me up, you know," I warned him as we were sitting together on one of our couches, looking at the sunset from there since I wasn't able to go on the rooftop anymore, "I already married you," He chuckled as I tapped my slightly pregnant belly that was getting bigger and bigger by the weeks going by. I was less scared compared to how I was when I first found out, I was becoming more content.

"I know," Poe replied as he snuck a kiss to my cheek and rubbed his hand affectionately on my pregnant stomach, "I just like to make you blush."

"Of course you do,"

"It's my life mission, you know."

I waddled down the hallway and past the nursery that we made up, the door barely open as I made my way over to the living room and the open kitchen on the other side. I could hear the kitchen being occupied, along with the beeps from BB-8 and Q2 as they were chatting with each other. I had to chuckle with the riveting topic of conversation as I turned the corner quietly, not wanting to be seen just yet.

"No, it's not a good idea to wake her up,"

Been Beep!

"You know what she's like if we wake her up too early, Q! You think I wanna go through with that now?"

Chirp Chirp!

"Don't get me started BB-8!"

Poe had his back turned to me as he was making breakfast, I could smell what he was making as he was wearing one of his old pilot shirts and pajama pants. I just wanted to watch him there for a few moments, seeing him be more relaxed and enjoying himself in his home, in our home. I finally was able to walk over a few feet before my own familiar droid saw me, coming over to beep at me good morning.

"Hello to you too," I said to my droid as I finally saw Poe looked over his shoulder to see me. I grinned, pacing his breakfast down briefly before coming around the counter to greet me with a quick kiss, his hands were on my stomach instantly as I chuckled.

"You're making breakfast?" I asked.

"I didn't want to wake you," Poe reminded me, "And your doctor told you to be on bed rest for now until we become parents." He raised an eyebrow at me as I placed my hands on my hips and gave him a knowing look.

"That's like asking me for not fly anymore," I commented in a grumble as he grinned and kissed the top of my head lovingly.

"And I know asking you to actually be on bed rest is not going to happen," He replied as he took my hand, "Let's have some breakfast before Rey and Finn come for their visit," I nodded in agreement, the both of us walking over to our small table and ate our breakfast together. We had nothing else on the agenda that whole morning, which was a rare commodity since we both would be going to to planet visits with old allies and outlining new treaties and alliances with those we haven't in the past. But today, it was a comfortable quiet morning for both of us as we were talking about our day and what we were going to do with Finn and Rey.

"Maybe we can take them to that watering hole?" I asked in a suggestion, "The one with the massive waterfall?"

"Yeah Finn would love that," Poe said in agreement, "I can try to make him try to jump off the edge," I grinned from the thought. I watched Poe think to himself as he was looking out the window now with nothing else to say to me, but I was lost in a trance with him. I was proud to call him my best friend, the love of my life, my husband, and now a future father.

This was something we bough fought hard, that we both almost sacrificed our lives for. It all started in the beginning when we both wanted peace in the galaxy from the First Order, long before we knew each other or thought of each other. But we both were fighting for the same thing: a new life away from pain and death.

And we won. I won, all because of Poe.

Poe and I came a long way together, seeing the good and bad in each other but never running away. having both of us finally finish our meals together before I got up slowly and stetted out my back to get it back to feeling as normal as possible.

"I'll clear these," I was about to say to Poe, but he shook his head and got my plate before I could do something about it. I sighed, seeing that he was once again going to go above ad beyond to make me not lift a finger. I planted a kiss on his lips, the both of us holding it there as the new sun rays of the new day kissed our skins.

"I'll clean these," Poe rephrased that for me against my lips as I giggled and walked away, walking over to the bedroom once again, "You wanna go get ready?"

"You got it, sweetheart," I commented, waddling down the hallway and then stopping in to see the nursery. I pushed open the door slightly, peering into the room and seeing how it was just waiting to be occupied.

It was a smaller room that used to be our Resistance headquarters room. It was dark with the drapes already pulled in tight, small trinkets from our adventures in the past stored on the shelves and dresser as I was now feeling the anticipated excitement. I placed my hand on my swollen belly, looking down at my stomach for a brief moment and feeling some peace coming over me.

"I hope you're ready," I mumbled mostly to myself, finally looked back up and then seeing the two bassinets there on opposite walls. There was a small table right in the middle of the two bassinets, the small Force Sensitive Tree that I received from Poe as a gift years ago was growing there within its pot and was already giving off a somber glow in the room.

I knew we were ready, it took me long enough to be, but I was ready. I still had a physical family here that was willing to help Poe and me, and I had Poe to be behind me in this new scary adventure. But out of all the battles that I went through, all of the near-death experiences that I was close to experiencing, this was going to be nothing compared to other times that I was scared. I was no longer afraid, I was ready more than anything.

I was ready for Ben Anakin Dameron and Shara Leia Dameron


End file.
